


A Pirate's Life For Us

by Formula_Tea



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Fire, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-19
Updated: 2015-06-06
Packaged: 2018-03-08 06:05:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 68,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3198191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Formula_Tea/pseuds/Formula_Tea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Whilst taking stock of their latest hoard for Captain Webber, Dan and Jev stumble across some unusual cargo.<br/>(Ratings and warnings may be changed)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Cargo

Chapter One: Cargo

 

Things were going pretty well until the pirates arrived.

The cargo ship was on its way back over the Atlantic, loaded mostly with tobacco for trade. The winds were working with them and they were making good time. Spirits were high, not least of all due to the first mate’s son, who was running about between the adult’s legs and shouting the last word of every line in the sea men’s songs.

They were not prepared for the attack.

Life boats were dropped into the water and men scrambled to save what they could as well as themselves. The ship was lost before they could even put up a fight, and nobody wanted to stick around to see what the pirates would do to anybody who did try to stop them.

“Come on, Felipe,” Rob said, tugging at his first mate’s arm. But the sailor was trying to go in the opposite direction to the life boats and Rob couldn’t really hold him still for very long. “It’s just cargo. You stay here, they’ll kill you.”

The last life boat was going and if they didn’t leave now they were going to be trapped on the boat with the invading pirates.

“Where is Felipinho?” Felipe asked, trying to see the small boy among the chaos. He hadn’t seen his son since the attack began.

“He’s probably already on one of the boats,” Rob said, finally managing to pull Felipe towards the life boat. “Let’s go.”

 

Once Captain Webber’s men were certain the ship was theirs and the members of the original crew who had not managed to escape had been rounded up and thrown overboard, it was up to Dan and Jev, Webber’s newest recruits, to actually take stock of what they had collected. So, whilst the rest of the crew were on deck, celebrating, Dan and Jev were below in the hold, counting sacks of tobacco and barrels of food.

“I hate this job. I hate this job. I hate this job. I hate this job.”

Jev glared across the store at Dan, who was marking off sacks of tobacco in his leger. The only reason they’d been given this job was because it had once been their legal job, taking stock of what was brought in and what left the small little port they had been living in. It was what they were good at. The reason they’d taken Captain Webber’s offer to join his crew had been to get away from that life and-

“I hate this job. I hate this job. I hate-.”

“Ok, Dan,” Jev snapped, peering at the worn label of another barrel, having given up trying to ignore his friend. “I think I understand what you are trying to say now.”

Dan just rolled his eyes and shifted another sack of tobacco. It looked like they’d actually hit a good find for once. The Captain would be pleased. After months of traveling and only managing to capture almost empty ships the entire time, they finally had goods to trade and hopefully some food soon. Dan felt like he hadn’t eaten a proper meal – even by the crew’s usual standards – for weeks, and he was craving something he could actually chew on rather than just flour and water again.

“If you find any bread, you toss it here, alright,” he called to Jev.

“If I find any bread it is going on my inventory,” Jev said. Still a stickler for the rules, even as a pirate.

“Apples?” Dan tried.

“Inventory.”

“Cheese?”

“Inventory.”

“Biscuits?”

“Inventory.”

“Oh, so what can I have?” Dan asked, leaving his sacks of tobacco for a moment.

“If I find any maggots, you can eat them,” Jev called back.

“Maggots,” Dan grumbled whilst Jev carried on working. “At least maggots would be meat.”

He hadn’t had meat since he left home, and as soon as he thought about it, his stomach started to grumble. Beef. He wanted beef. Or mutton. His mother used to make the best mutton stew and…

“Are you working, Dan?” Jev asked when he realised his friend had gone silent.

“No, I’m fantasising about food,” Dan replied.

“Well can you hurry up?” Jev asked. “The sooner we get this finished, the sooner we can join the celebrations.”

“We could have our own celebrations,” Dan suggested, his eyes twinkling as soon as he hit the idea. He set his ledger down on top of a pile of sacks and came over to where Jev was still trying to translate the label on the barrel. “They’re all too busy getting drunk, they probably wouldn’t even notice if we had some fun of our own.”

He slipped his arms around Jev’s waist when the Frenchman didn’t turn away from the barrel, pressing his lips against the crook of Jev’s neck.

“If Captain Webber finds us, we’re going to be thrown overboard for sure,” Jev murmured, still trying to pretend to focus at least. It was becoming a more and more difficult task though, with the rough stubble from Dan’s unshaven chin scratching against his neck

“The Captain’s probably already fucking Sebastian in his cabin,” Dan said. “Nothing to worry about.”

“And if he hears you saying things like _that_ then we definitely will be,” Jev said.

“You’re no fun,” Dan complained when Jev slipped out of his hold to scribble something in his own ledger. He had noticed the colour in the Frenchman’s cheeks go a couple of shades redder though.

“What about tonight?” Dan asked, smirking at the colour of his friend’s cheeks and his power over it. “What if I sneak into your bunk tonight? When there’s only a handful of us awake and everyone else is too busy to notice. What if I-?”

“What if you go and do your work,” Jev said, trying to stop himself looking so flustered. But there was no way he could control the blush in his cheeks and he knew Dan had seen it. His friend’s triumphant smile was enough.

“Tonight,” Dan promised, going back over to the sacks of tobacco and leaving Jev to work on the food.

It looked like there was enough food here to get them to their next intended port. Maybe a little more, but Jev would count it down, knowing Captain Webber wouldn’t really check on the food. It was more important any goods for sale were counted correctly and as long as they had enough food for the journey the exact amount wasn’t really important.

No meat though. Jev wasn’t really surprised by this. But there was plenty of other food and it looked like they might actually be able to have proper meals again for a short while. He wasn’t made for life at sea. He’d known that when he had agreed to this but _Dan wanted an adventure_ and Dan got whatever he wanted. Dutifully, Jev had followed.

“Jev?” Dan called, uncertainly. “I found something that isn’t tobacco.”

“What is it?” Jev called back. He was pretty sure Dan would be able to cope with whatever it was. He was probably about to ask if he could eat it.

“I think you should come and look.”

Jev rolled his eyes and stood from where he was crouched at another barrel. Dan had his back to him, peering at whatever he had found in among the bags of tobacco. He wasn’t speaking so it was either something extremely good or extremely bad. Jev was hoping for the former. Maybe it was meat.

Well, technically, it _was_ meat.

“I would have preferred at goat,” Jev muttered, staring at the tiny child who was now staring up at him with enormous brown eyes. The boy was shaking and hugged his knees closer to his chest. He didn’t say anything, waiting for Dan or Jev to speak first, but Dan’s mind had gone blank and all Jev could think of was cannibalism jokes.

“What do we do with it?” Dan asked after a while of staring and awkward silence. “Inventory?”

The child didn’t move, even when Jev shifted the sacks and Dan crouched down beside him.

“Do you have a name?” he asked.

The boy seemed even more scared when spoken to and shuffled a little away from him a little.

“It’s ok, we’re not going to hurt you,” Dan said, gently. He couldn’t be sure that was _entirely_ true, of course, but the child didn’t need to know that.

“He must have been left aboard by the traders,” Jev said, peering down at the child. “Probably one of the richer men’s sons, judging by his clothes.”

He definitely didn’t work on the ship, that was for sure. The shoes he was wearing alone were worth more than every pay Jev had received in his entire life.

“My name’s Dan,” Dan said, still trying to get the boy to talk to him. “And this is Jev. What’s your name?”

“We need to go and tell the captain,” Jev said, standing.

“No, you can’t,” Dan said, grabbing Jev’s hand to stop him going anywhere. “Come on, you saw what he did with the others. He’ll thrown him over board. He’s just a child, Jev. We can’t tell Webber.”

“Then what do you suggest we do, Daniel?” Jev asked.

“I want to keep him,” Dan said, his eyes bright.

“He is not a _toy_. He is not a _pet_.”

“I know,” Dan said. “He’s adorable, though. Just look at him.”

The boy still hadn’t pulled his knees away from his chin and looked just as scared as when they found him. He was adorable, yes, but he looked about five and there was no way he was going to be any use on the ship. Just another mouth to feed. Trouble.

“You can’t keep him,” Jev said. “I’m going to get Captain Webber.”

“Please don’t,” Dan said. He didn’t know why he wanted the kid to stay all of a sudden but he did and he was not letting Jev ruin that.

Jev ran a hand through his hair considering his limited options. There was no way Dan was going to be talked around. Once he wanted something, there was little anybody could do to change his mind. The fact they were on the ship in the first place was proof of that. So that left talking to the captain – which would end with Dan hating him for approximately forever and probably with the child being drowned – or letting Dan keep it secretly.

He was going to regret this. He _knew_ he was going to regret this.

“I am not helping,” Jev said. “And if my name comes up when the captain finds out about this, I will kill you.”

“You’re amazing,” Dan said, knowing the Frenchman’s version of the word yes. He wrapped his arms around Jev and hugged as tightly as he could. “I love you. I’ll love you forever.”

“I know,” Jev said, feeling the heat return to his cheeks. They were going to get in so much trouble for this.

Dan sorted out some food for the child and Jev agreed to act as a look out. He _wasn’t_ helping. Not really. He was just doing his job and checking to see if anybody was coming whilst Dan sat with the little boy, still trying to get him to speak.

The boy didn’t seem as frightened anymore, but was still hugging his knees to his chest, even as he ate the small amount of food Dan had prepared for him.

“You’re going to need to tell me your name,” Dan said. “Unless you just want me to call you thingy. I can call you that, if you like.”

The child chewed on the stale bread he had been given slowly. His eyes flicked between Dan and Jev, who was refusing to look at the child. He was not going to get drawn in by it like Dan had. Who was to say it even was a child, anyway? There were all kinds of sea monsters that lured sailors in and then killed them. Who was to say this wasn’t another one? Not one he had heard of, no, but it wasn’t impossible.

“Can you speak?” Dan asked. Maybe it couldn’t. Which would be a problem, but they could probably get around that, somehow.

The boy nodded. “Pirates.”

Jev looked over when he spoke, a little surprised that it actually could speak. He met the little boy’s eye then turned quickly away, not wanting to fall for it’s trap.

“Well, you can speak,” Dan said. “I guess that’s a good thing.”

He looked back at Jev to see his reaction, but the Frenchman was peering up the steps again.

“Yeah, we’re pirates,” Dan said. “It’s good fun.”

“Felipinho,” the little boy said.

“What?”

“Dan,” he said, pointing at Dan, before pointing to himself. “Felipinho.”

“Jev,” Dan called. “I think we’ve got a name.”

 


	2. Blankets

It was much later when Jev and Dan finally emerged from the cargo hold. The deck was quiet and deserted, the waves calm and the wind all but dead.

“You two took your time.”

Both men jumped, surprised to hear anything when there didn’t appear to be anyone on the deck. Captain Webber looked down at them from where he was waiting for them at the ship’s wheel.

“There was a lot of stock,” Jev said. “Tobacco and food mostly.”

“Enough for you to take hours to count?” Webber asked, suspiciously.

“We couldn’t agree on the exact amount,” Dan said. “Had to recount a couple of times.”

“I thought you were supposed to be good at that job,” Webber said.

“We are,” Jev said. “Everybody makes mistakes, though, sir.”

“Hmmm,” Webber said, more to himself than for his two crew members’ benefit. “How much food?”

“Enough to feed us comfortably until we arrive at the next port,” Jev said. “Would you like us to move it onto our ship?”

“You two are a little eager, aren’t you?” Webber said. “First working all the way through the celebrations, now this.”

“Nothing wrong with being eager, sir,” Dan pointed out.

Webber considered the two young men, trying to figure out what they were hiding. There was no way they could be that eager to work and he knew better to trust new recruits blindly.

“If I find out you have taken anything from there…”

“You won’t sir,” Dan said. “Wouldn’t dare.”

“Right,” Webber said. He still wasn’t happy with the situation, but he couldn’t work out what Dan and Jev had done, and there was no point causing trouble now when there would be no answer. “If you had been on deck for the celebrations you would know I’ve decided to take this as our first ship. We’re keeping the food here. Now, go and wake whoever is supposed to be out here,” he said. “Then get some sleep. I expect to see you up bright and early to deal with the mess.”

“Yes sir.”

 

Dan lay awake in his bunk, listening to the almost silent waves rock the boat. He couldn’t sleep, no matter how hard he tried, his mind always wondering back to the child in the hold. Felipinho. He had a feeling he had done something incredibly stupid, lying to the captain, but it also felt like the right thing. It worried him. If Webber found out… The threat remained unspoken, but Dan knew it would be bad.

“Jev?”

The Frenchman lay in the bunk above him, and Dan couldn’t be sure if he really was asleep or just pretending.

“Jev?”

“Go to sleep Dan.”

So he was still awake too. Probably worrying about the child as well.

“Jev, what are we going to do?”

“Is nothing else we can do now,” Jev said. “Have made our beds and now we must lie in them. So go to sleep.”

“If Webber finds out…”

“You knew when you made your choice the consequences,” Jev said, rolling over in his bunk and trying to get to sleep. “But you still chose to keep it.”

“Him,” Dan said.

Jev just sighed and closed his eyes tighter, as if that would convince Dan to stop talking.

“He must be so scared,” Dan said, thoughtfully.

“Its father is dead and the people who killed him have kidnapped it,” Jev summarised. “I would be surprised if it was not scared.”

“We haven’t kidnapped him,” Dan said, even though that was really what had happened. But it wasn’t as if they had a choice in the matter. And they had never _intended_ to kidnap him. It had just happened. It was an accident.

“Go to sleep Dan,” Jev said again.

Dan sighed, but decided it was probably best to let the Frenchman sleep. He would only be moody when they had to wake and that was not going to aid their situation in the slightest. Even though Jev had told him he was not going to help look after the child, Dan knew he would. He was a big softy at heart and once he realised they weren’t going to get caught and get into trouble, he would help as much as Dan needed him to.

Dan wriggled down in his bunk, bringing the itchy blanket he had been gifted with up to his nose and closing his eyes, hoping he might be able to get to sleep.

When he eventually did manage to sleep, he drifted in and out of a dream concerning wild plants in a tobacco farm.

 

Dan blinked awake, confused as to why he had woken, then he spotted the eyes watching him from the end of the bed and jumped, smacking his head off of the end of his bunk. The child just watched him, silently. Dan glanced around to see if anyone else was awake, but it was the middle of the shift and everyone down here was sleeping.

“What are you doing?” Dan hissed. “I thought I told you to stay in the hold.”

The little boy didn’t say anything. Didn’t move.

“Did anyone see you come up here?” Dan asked.

Felipinho shook his head.

Dan sighed, rubbing his jaw and trying to wake himself up. He was too tired to deal with this right now.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m cold,” Felipinho whispered.

“Cold?”

Felipinho nodded.

Dan imagined his current sleeping conditions weren’t exactly what they boy was used to. He hadn’t managed to find much out whilst they were down in the hold, but Jev had been right. The boy was the son of the first mate, and was probably used to having a bed, at least.

“I can’t do anything about that,” Dan said. “Go back to the hold and go to sleep.”

“I can’t sleep,” the boy said. “I’m cold.”

His voice was getting louder and wobblier and Dan spotted the tell-tale signs that he was about to burst into tears. He sighed, glancing around the rest of the room, but it didn’t look like anyone was awake. Yet.

“You have to try,” Dan said. He couldn’t give up his own blanket, mostly because it wasn’t his to give up.

“But I _can’t_ ,” Felipinho said, his voice getting louder and louder all the time.

“Shush,” Dan whispered. “It’s ok.”

“I want my blankets and I want my bed and I want my Papa,” Felipinho said.

“Well, you’re not going to get anything like that, are you?” Dan said.

“It’s not fair.”

From the bunk above Dan, a blanket dropped, landing on the small boys head so he stumbled back a little and fell on his bottom.

“Take him back to the hold,” Jev said through gritted teeth. Why was it so hard to get some sleep?

Dan sighed, watching the child unwrap himself from the blanket. Felipinho looked back at him with glistening eyes filled with fear and tears and Dan couldn’t help the way his stomach dropped again.

He dragged himself out of bed, being careful to not stumble into anybody else. It would probably be safer for Felipinho to take himself back to the hold. He managed to get all the way here without being caught, and Dan didn’t know if he could do the same, but the child didn’t look like he was going anywhere alone.

Felipinho takes Dan’s hand as they creep between the other sailor’s beds and up back onto the deck. There didn’t seem to be anybody about, but Dan knew there was someone lurking somewhere. He could feel Felipinho hiding behind him without looking and gulped.

“It’ll be ok,” he whispered, more to reassure himself than Felipinho. “Do you think you can get back to the hold?”

Felipinho didn’t say anything, shuffling closer to Dan.

“You go and I’ll follow you ok,” Dan said. “I’m just a little bigger, so it’ll be harder for me. Ok?”

Felipinho nodded, letting go of Dan to slip across the deck and back over to the hold. Dan let out a sigh of relief. At least he wasn’t going to get caught with the boy with him. When he looked again, Felipinho had disappeared.

Taking a deep breath, Dan stepped out from the crook he was hiding in and onto the open deck. There were a hand full of crew across the deck playing cards, not paying him much attention, and the captain was nowhere to be seen.

“Alright?” Sebastian asked, looking up from his cards where he was undoubtedly losing.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Dan said. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a lie.

“You can take my shift if you want it,” Daniil joked.

“I’m fine thank you,” Dan said. “Just going to have a wander then see if that helps.”

“Worth a try,” Daniil muttered, tapping the table to grab Sebastian’s attention again. “Your turn.”

Maybe this wasn’t going to be as difficult as he thought it was going to be, and Dan crossed the deck without being stopped by any of his ship mates.

“Where’s Webber?” he asked, suddenly realising that if the captain had- for reasons Dan couldn’t actually think of - decided to go and check on things in the hold, following Felipinho in probably wasn’t the best idea.

“In his cabin,” Sebastian said. “Why?”

“Don’t want to get moaned at,” Dan said. “What’s it to you, why?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but Daniil tapped the table again and he turned his attention back to the game.

When Dan poked his head into the hold, he couldn’t find the boy. A voice at the back of his mind told him that was a good thing – it was unlikely the child was going to get them caught – but he just wanted to get this over with as fast as possible and get back to bed.

“Felipinho?”

Felipinho popped up from behind the sacks of tobacco, yawning and rubbing his eyes. Dan smiled.

“You’re a good little hider.” Dan said, crossing the hold to where the child was curled up, Jev’s blanket wrapped tightly around him. “You must be really good at hide and seek.”

Felipinho nodded, sleepily, his eyes already closed.

“Are you alright?” Dan asked.

Felipinho nodded again.

“Right well, I’ll come down and see you in the morning,” Dan said. “But stay here until then this time. If you get caught we’re both going to be in big trouble.”

“Ok.”

“Right, well,” Dan stepped back. He was going to have to leave the child alone again and that worried him a lot more than he felt it should. “Good night.”

“Good night,” Felipinho said. “Love you.”

Dan froze, no idea what to say. He knew it was nothing, as meaningful as the “good night” that came before it, but it still shook him a little.

“Good night,” Dan said again, before disappearing back to his bunk.


	3. Food

“What is this?” Felipinho asked, sticking his finger into the bowl of gruel Dan had brought him for breakfast. He was still wrapped up in Jev’s blanket, shaking. It was colder today than the day before and it was freezing down in the hold, but the child was just going to have to get used to it. He was going to have to get used to a lot.

“Breakfast,” Dan said. _His_ breakfast to be exact, but he was sure he would be able to get something later.

Felipinho licked his finger experimentally, then cringed. “Doesn’t taste like breakfast.”

“Well, it’s the only breakfast you’ve got,” Dan said. He couldn’t even imagine the types of foods the child was used to having, but he was going to have to eat like the rest of them for now.

“Don’t like it,” Felipinho said.

“Then you’ll have to go hungry,” Dan said. He’d usually be more understanding than this, but he was tired and hungry. “Look, today there are going to be lots of men coming down here, brining things. And you have to stay quiet and stay hidden, alright?”

“Can’t I have some proper food?” Felipinho asked.

“That is proper food,” Dan said. “Good, healthy… food.”

He couldn’t really say what the food consisted of. He’d no idea, and he didn’t really want to find out either.

“Eat up or it’ll go cold.”

Dan patted him on the back and stood. He’d already been gone too long and if he stayed down here any longer (“shifting some things about to make more space”) people were going to come down looking for him.

“I miss Papa and the others,” Felipinho said, quietly. “Things were better when they were here.”

“I know,” Dan said. “But they could be a lot worse. And they will be, if you get caught. So stay here and be quiet, alright?”

“Ok.”

 

“How is it?” Jev asked when Dan came up from the hold.

“He’s going to stay hidden,” Dan said, following Jev across the gangplank that had been laid between the two ships so they could move the food across.

“I still think this is a bad idea,” Jev said.

“Can’t be any worse than moving food from one ship to another in the open sea,” Dan pointed out, hopping down onto the other ship with a grin on his face.

Jev just rolled his eyes and led Dan into the food store. “Have you thought about what you’re going to do if the captain finds out?”

“You’ve changed your tune,” Dan said, cheerfully. “Yesterday it was _when_.”

“Well, you have survived the night,” Jev pointed out. “What are you going to do if Webber finds out?”

Dan shrugged. He hadn’t come up with a way out. If Webber found out about the child, he was in deep trouble.

“You are not dragging me into it,” Jev said, loading Dan’s arms with sacks of flour.

“I’m not going to get caught,” Dan insisted.

Jev just piled another sack of flour on top of the others, covering Dan’s face. He didn’t believe that at all.

There was no sign of Felipinho as Dan, Jev, and the others moved the food from one ship onto the other. Most of their ship mates seemed more concerned about getting the job done as soon as possible – worried about the fact they were moving goods between two ships in the middle of open water – than looking at the store room in too much detail.

There wasn’t much to move and the job was done quickly.

“Have you eaten?” Jev asked, shifting the sacks of flour from where they’d been dumped in the doorway.

“Yeah,” Dan said, slowly, following Jev inside.

“You haven’t, have you,” Jev said.

“I’m fine,” Dan said. “Felipinho?”

“You are going to have to eat, Dan,” Jev said, piling up the sacks with the rest of the food. Hopefully there would be no need for them now they had _actual_ food to eat.

“I am fine,” Dan said. “I’ll go and see Jenson after this. He likes me. He’ll give me something. Felipinho? You can come out now.”

“Do not like this,” Jev muttered. “You cannot go without yourself. Not for the sake of a child. I am not letting you.”

“I’m not going to,” Dan said. “Felipinho?”

The child was still wrapped up in Jev’s blanket when Dan found him. By the looks of it, he hadn’t even touched his breakfast, which didn’t surprise Dan in the slightest.

“What a waste,” Jev muttered.

“I’ll go and get Jenson to heat it up,” Dan said. “It won’t take five seconds.”

“Can I have some proper food now?” Felipinho asked. “We have lots. Look.”

“Yes, but we have to save that,” Dan said, crouching beside Felipinho and offering him the bowl again. The child stuck his nose up at it, unimpressed. “You can eat this now or go without. It’s up to you.”

“I’m not eating it. It’s not nice. I don’t like you. I want Papa.”

“Your father is gone,” Jev said. “And if you go on like that, you will be too. Do you want to eat the food or not?”

“No.”

“Dan, eat your breakfast,” Jev said, turning away from the pair of them. It looked like he was going to have to be the bad parent. No. _No_. He wasn’t either parent. “I have work to do,” he said, leaving the hold as quickly as possible before the child – if it really was a child – could get inside his head anymore.

 

Work was tedious and repetitive, but Jev always found some comfort in the routine and it was one of the few things he actually liked about being part of Captain Webber’s crew. Dan was always at his side, cracking jokes and stopping Jev getting bored enough to throw himself over board. He was a hard worker and there was no need to threaten violence to get work done. Dan somehow found time to work between chatting and joking, and work wasn’t really as harsh for either of them as what Jev had imagined it would be.

It made the day pass quickly, which Jev was thankful for. There were two parts of the day he really looked forward to: supper and sleep. He enjoyed seeing Dan happy on his adventure, but Jev just wanted to go home.

“Do you think he’s going to eat this time?” Dan asked, following Jev down to go to get food. They’d left it until after everyone else. That way Jenson, the cook, had no reason to not let them have a little extra.

Jev shrugged.

“Must be hungry by now,” Dan said.

“He was hungry this morning,” Jev pointed out. “That isn’t the problem. When he realises there’s nothing else to eat, he’ll eat. Don’t worry.”

“Are you actually going to eat it this time?” Jenson asked, grinning when Dan and Jev came into his small kitchen area. “Not wait until it’s cold.”

“Sorry about that,” Dan said, laughing as he took the bowl from Jenson. “Hey, any chance of extras?”

“You are joking, right?” Jenson said, shuffling over a little so he was stood in front of the half full pot of stock and potatoes. “How much?”

“Just a little,” Dan said. “In another bowl.”

“I suppose you want some and all,” Jenson said, preparing the small portion for Dan.

Jev shook his head. “More of your cooking? I think I would die.”

“Dan doesn’t seem to mind,” Jenson pointed out, a smile tugging at his lips even when he was trying to look annoyed.

“Dan’s from Australia,” Jev said. “They are invincible. Look at the captain.”

“Suppose,” Jenson said. He couldn’t really see any flaws in that argument. “Is this enough for you.”

“That’s great,” Dan said, taking the second bowl and balancing it precariously on his arm. “And maybe some bread.”

“And half a chicken?” Jenson said, rolling his eyes. He still brought a chunk of bread from a cupboard and tore it in half, handing the smaller piece to Dan. “Because I like you. And if anyone hears about this, you’re not eating for a fortnight.”

“They won’t,” Dan said, grinning. “Thank you.”

 

“What is it?” Felipinho said. He didn’t look too thrilled with his meal options and Dan got the feeling he wasn’t going to be eating tonight either.

“Vegetable stock,” Dan said. “Potatoes. It’s good. Yummy.”

He sat on top of a barrel, watched by Jev, with his own food on his lap. The food wasn’t as bad as it looked. It had something to chew on, which made a pleasant change from what Dan and Jev had become used to.

It wasn’t what Felipinho was used to either.

“Don’t like it.”

“You’ve not even tried it,” Dan pointed out. “You got bread as well. Even _I_ didn’t get any bread.”

Felipinho looked down at the food again. Dan had to admit it wasn’t the most appetising looking meal he’d ever seen in his life, but it was edible. Experimentally, the child dipped the tiniest amount of bread into the stock and nibbled on the end. The disgusted face he pulled made Dan laugh and Jev roll his eyes.

“Don’t like it,” he said again, trying to wipe the taste off his tongue.

“Well, it’s all there is,” Dan said, still grinning. “You can eat that or chew off your fingers. It’s up to you.”

The child’s bottom lip began to wobble again and Dan’s grin fell as he realised the water works were about to start again.

“Hey,” he said gently, quickly putting down his food and hopping off the barrel he was sat on to sit beside Felipinho on the floor. “Hey, don’t cry. It’s alright. It’s really not that bad.”

“I want to go home,” Felipinho moaned. “I don’t like it here anymore. You are not nice and the food is not nice and I’m cold and down here is yucky.”

Dan didn’t know what to say and, when Felipinho started crying, he felt like doing the same. Jev knew not to take the child’s comments to heart. He didn’t really care if the kid liked it here or not, he didn’t have a choice in the matter. But he also knew his friend would care way too much about what some snotty nosed spoilt brat thought of him.

“Listen,” he said. “Dan is a nice person. Do you want to meet not nice people? We can take you up onto the deck if you like. And you will meet some very not nice people who will not look after you or give you any food or blankets and if they are in a very bad mood they will even throw you over the edge of the ship. Would you like that? You are lucky it is Dan who has found you and not anybody else. He is treating you nicely and if you had any manners you would be treating him the same way.”

Felipinho stopped crying, looking up at Jev in shock. Jev stepped back, unsurprised to find Dan with the same look of shock on his face. He deserved better than this and Jev wanted him to know that. Having said his piece, Jev went back to his dinner, shoving a spoonful of potatoes into his mouth.

“I want to stay here,” Felipinho said, quietly, looking up at Dan.

“You stay here,” Dan said, wrapping Jev’s blanket over Felipinho’s shoulders. “Eat your food. It might make you a little warmer.”

Sniffing to stop himself from crying, Felipinho dipped another piece of the bread into the stock and put it in his mouth. He cringed at the taste but actually swallowed it this time. Dan nodded, encouragingly.

“The more you have, the better it tastes,” Dan lied.

“Could I maybe have a little bit of water please?” Felipinho asked, quietly.

“Sure,” Dan said, handing Felipinho his own flask. The child drank from it greedily and only then did it occur to Dan that he probably hadn’t had anything to drink since the night before. “You drink the rest of that. I’ll get some more.”

“Thank you,” Felipinho said, quietly, glancing over at Jev to make sure he had heard and wasn’t going to shout at him again.

“I know this isn’t great mate, but it’s the best we’ve got,” Dan said, putting his arm around the child. “And things will get better, once we figure out what to do.”

“Thank you.”

“It’s alright,” Dan said, gently. “You eat that up now. We’ll be back down later.”


	4. The Port Town

“Sir!”

Rob rolled his eyes, looking up from the map to the messenger who had just burst, unannounced, into the meeting room he had taken as his own temporary office.

“What is it now?”

“They found the bodies on the beach sir,” the messenger said, waving back the way he had come in case they were unsure where the beach was.

Felipe sat up, suddenly interested. “How many?”

“Six,” the messenger said. “They’ve gone up and down the beach twice already and they can’t find anymore.”

“Go again,” Rob instructed. They’d only lost six men that night, everybody else piling into the life boats before the pirates could take them. Six, and Felipinho.

The messenger nodded and made to leave when Felipe stopped him.

“Was he there?” he asked. He wasn’t sure if he wanted the answer, but he knew he needed it.

“No, sir,” the messenger said. “No sign of him.”

Felipe nodded and the man hurried away to go and tell the search party to go over the beach again.

“He’s alive,” Felipe said to Rob as soon as they were alone.

“You don’t know that,” Rob tried to say. It wasn’t that he _didn’t_ want the child to be alive. He just didn’t want Felipe to get his hopes up only for them to be stolen away again. He was too fragile for that right now.

“I do,” Felipe said. “I know it in my heart. I told you he was alive, didn’t I? Must send out a search party.”

“We already have a search party,” Rob said, referring to the men who were currently on the beach, collecting the bodies of their ship mates.

“On the sea,” Felipe said. “They must have him, or else he would have come ashore like the others. I have to get him back, Rob. Is no other option.”

 

Dan, Jev, and Felipinho slowly got into a routine. Once the child stopped “being a spoilt brat”, as Jev would call him, the Frenchman started to warm a little towards him. There was still the possibility that it was some sea monster of some kind, but it wasn’t hurting either of them yet and Jev would leave it be unless it started to do so.

Most of the time, Jenson would have a little extra food for them at breakfast and supper, and didn’t question where the food was going. As far as they could tell, nobody on the ship suspected a thing, even if Dan and Jev did spend way too much of what little free time they got in the hold.

They arrived at the next port far earlier than Dan had expected them too, less than a week after they’d taken Felipinho’s father’s ship. Webber took Sebastian and a few of the others to find someone to buy their cargo whilst almost everyone else disappeared to go and find entertainment of their own.

Dan and Jev sat in the hold, watching Felipinho whilst he slept.

“You have to,” Jev said, gently, patting his friend on the back.

“I can’t,” Dan whispered.

“He cannot stay here with us forever,” Jev said.

“I know but…” Dan hurriedly wiped his eyes, trying to hide the fact there were tears there, but Jev already knew.

He had a point. It made sense to go ashore and find someone who would take Felipinho off their hands. He hated it here and there was no chance he was ever going to get back to his real family. This was no place for a child and they were only increasing the risk of being killed by keeping him here any longer than they needed to. It was better they find somewhere in the port town for Felipinho to stay than for the captain to find them and thrown all three of them overboard.

“There will be someone in the town who will take him in for us,” Jev said, softly, knowing how much this was hurting Dan.

“He’ll end up in a work house,” Dan said. “I can’t let that happen. They won’t care about him, Jev. They won’t look after him. He’ll just be another mouth to feed. He needs to be with people who care about him. He needs to be with us.”

“Is this about him or you?” Jev asked. “I am sorry, Dan. Really. I do not want to see him in some place like that either. But…” He looked down at the child again. “I will go ashore and see what I can find, yes?” he suggested. “Then I come and tell you, and if there is nothing that you agree with, he stays with us.”

Dan looked between Jev and Felipinho. He knew his friend was right, but that didn’t help in the slightest.

“He still thinks he’s going home,” Dan said, quietly. Neither of them had had the heart to tell him otherwise and he’d – maybe not _happily_ , but he hadn’t been forced– eaten the food and slept on the floor in the hold, putting up with the awful conditions all because he thought he was going home.

“We will find somewhere new to be home for him,” Jev promised. “Are you going to stay here with him?”

“If he wakes up and everyone’s gone, he’ll start to panic,” Dan said.

“Alright,” Jev said. “I will see you later, yeah?”

 

The port town didn’t seem like the worst place in the world, Jev thought. He’d seen a lot worse in his short time as part of Webber’s crew. There would be some place here that suited Felipinho and he would be able to hand over the child with a guilt free conscience.

The rest of his ship mates were also ashore, but Jev was fairly sure he wouldn’t bump into any of them. They would all be looking for something entirely different to him.

He needed something Dan would agree to and there was no chance any of the work houses that destroyed the sky line would meet his high standards. If he was honest, Jev didn’t like the sound of that either. The few days with the boy had convinced him it most likely wasn’t a sea monster come to trick them into death and he was actually quite… cute. The work houses weren’t a good environment, Jev knew from personal experience, but it was better than being dead. Not _much_ better, but better.

No idea where he was really going, Jev hurried down one of the back alleys that made up most of the town. Hopefully something would come to mind as he walked and the answer would become clear…

“Vergne?”

Jev stopped, spinning around to face the voice. There was someone stood in the shadow of one of the doorways and, even though Jev couldn’t see his face, he was sure the man was watching him.

“It is you,” the voice – strangely familiar – said in a language Jev barely remembered. “There is a face I did not think I would see again.”

The man pulled a cigarette away from his mouth, flicking ash onto the ground before letting out a cloud of smoke.

“Are you not going to say hello to an old friend?” he asked.

“Maybe if he were to come into the light,” Jev said, in English.

The owner of the voice laughed and stepped out of the shadows, taking another long drag on his cigarette.

“Your French is not so good anymore?”

“Romain?” Jev stepped back again, a little surprised to see the man who had once been his best friend. “What are you doing here?”

“Living,” Romain said. “You are not the only one who could get out of the House, you know?”

“That’s brilliant,” Jev said, genuinely happy for his friend. “How have things been?”

“Have a wife now,” Romain said, pleased with himself. “A child and another on the way. Life is better than I ever thought it could have been. And you?”

“Work on a ship,” Jev said, a little embarrassed he hadn’t managed to make the most of his freedom like Romain had. “Have a… a someone.” He had what he needed and he wouldn’t swap Dan for a quiet little family life. He wouldn’t swap Dan for anything. “We have just docked, actually. Hence why I am here.”

“Should you not be at a tavern or something?” Romain asked. He knew where the sailors went when they came ashore and it was not here.

“Yes,” Jev said. “But I have a… Actually, I don’t suppose you have any extra room.”

This could quite possibly be exactly what he was looking for.

Romain’s eyebrows shot up and he flicked more ash from the end of his cigarette. “Maybe. Why?”

“We have a… stowaway,” Jev said, carefully. “The captain does not know about it. And we need to get rid of it before he finds out.”

“A child?”

“Five.”

“Can’t you just wait until you return to his home?” Romain asked. “It cannot be that long.”

“We do not know when we’ll be there again,” Jev said. “Our course isn’t exactly preplanned.”

“You will not be going back to where you came?” Romain asked.

Jev shook his head. They probably wouldn’t be going home for a long time, but he couldn’t wait until that day. Hopefully, by that point, Dan would have become bored of this adventure and would happily settle back to their old lives, or whatever they could scrape together.

When Jev looked up at Romain again he could see his old friend thinking. He’d probably work out they were pirates but, living around here, it had to be something he was used to.

“Does this child have a name?” he asked, eventually.

“Felipinho Massa,” Jev said. He didn’t see why the name would matter that much. If Romain really didn’t like it, he could change it, though the thought of Felipinho complaining about that made Jev smile.

“Wait there a second,” Romain said, disappearing back inside.

Jev waited. This suddenly seemed like a brilliant plan and if he could convince Dan that Romain was a kind enough person – and if he was anything like Jev remembered him to be, then he was – Dan would be perfectly happy sending their little one away to live a settled life in the middle of a family.

Romain returned with a couple of seconds later and handed him a newspaper.

“Is this him?”

 

“They’re offering a reward?” Dan asked, reading the paper.

Jev nodded. “And pardon. If we can get him safely back to his father.”

Dan gulped, looking through the text again and waiting for the trick to become apparent to him, but it didn’t seem like there was one. Felipinho’s father was alive and searching for him.

“So what do we do?” Dan asked, looking up at Jev. They needed to get Felipinho back to where they had been before, but there was no way they were going to be able to convince the captain to go back so soon.

“We wait it out,” Jev said. “We keep him here until we can get him home.”

“I thought you said we should get rid of him as soon as possible,” Dan said.

“I know, but things are different now,” Jev said. That was when there had been no hope of Felipinho going home. That was when the best option for all of them _would_ have been to get rid of him as soon as possible. Things had changed.

“We don’t know when that will be,” Dan said, but he knew it didn’t matter. He had nothing against keeping Felipinho here with them for as long as needs be, but he didn’t want Jev to be doing something he didn’t want to be doing.

“Does not matter,” Jev said. “It cannot be that long. We will carry on as we are now until we get there. Felipinho will be happy, and we can get pardon and go back to our old lives, reward and all.”

“Our old lives?” Dan asked. “Why do you want to?”

Jev froze, realising what he had said.

“Don’t you like it now?” Dan asked, looking up at Jev with tear filled eyes.

Jev almost laughed. He was going to have to tell the truth. Dan deserved that much at least.

“No,” he said, trying to find a way of telling his friend without hurting him too much. “Dan, we smell like shit all the time. We eat shit. The water we drink looks like piss. The only reason everyone else is still here is because they are all too drink to notice.”

He’d left the House to start a good life, not to get into the same squalor as before but with the added fun of sea-sickness.

“Then why are you here?” Dan asked.

“For you!” Jev said, as if it were obvious, which, on second thought, it probably was. “Knew you were never going to let this go. Could not stand in your way. At least if I was here I could look after you and am able to make sure you can get home when you want to.”

“When?”

“When,” Jev repeated. “You will get bored of this eventually and, when you do, we can go home.”

“What if I don’t get bored?” Dan said. He loved it here and he didn’t see why his friend didn’t. “What if I decide I want to stay here forever? Are you going to stick around then?”

“You will get bored,” Jev said. He was certain of it. Once it stopped being fun and started to be a chore, Dan wouldn’t want to do it, and that would be when Jev would step in.

“Maybe I won’t,” Dan said. “I love it here, Jev. It’s awesome. But if you don’t find it awesome maybe you should leave.”

“Leave you on your own?” Jev asked. “No, I’m staying here with you. This is not disputable.”

“Fine,” Dan said, crossing his arms and sitting back down on the barrel.

Jev rolled his eyes. Dan could be a dramatic sod when he wanted to be.

“So,” he said. “Do we tell this one where he’s going now or do we wait?”

“We wait,” Dan said, definitely, looking down Felipinho again. “We don’t want to get him excited. We don’t know when we’re going back yet.”

“Alright,” Jev said. It made sense and was what he would have suggested, but he doubted Dan would listen to him right now. “Dan?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Dan sighed, picking at the edge of the barrel with his thumb and watching scraps of wood come off. “I love you too.”


	5. Illness

Felipinho was ill.

Dan found him the next day with his hair plastered to his head with sweat, shaking but refusing to touch the blanket Jev had given him because he was too hot. Dan and Jev brought him food and water, hoping it would get better of its own accord but it didn’t. It only got worse.

“We are going to have to go and get Sebastian,” Jev said about a week after they left the port town.

Felipinho was lying in Dan’s lap, strangely pale and too weak to move too much. He’d had a little bit off food but everything that went into his mouth came straight back up and Dan and Jev had scrubbed the floor in the hold at least twice a day since Felipinho had become ill but it still smelt of sick.

Jev had seen this kind of thing before, in the workhouse when they brought new kids in. The children never lasted very long, illness quickly taking them. He wasn’t sure if this was the same thing, didn’t want it to be. He hadn’t mentioned his experience to Dan, but maybe the scare would shock him into doing the right thing.

“We can’t,” Dan said, wiping Felipinho’s sweat soaked hair out of his eyes again, even though they were closed and had been for a while.

Sebastian, the ship’s doctor, was closer to the captain than anyone else and not known for being good at keeping secrets. Webber would know about Felipinho as soon as Sebastian did.

“He’ll get better,” Dan said, hopefully, but he knew as well as Jev did that that probably wasn’t going to happen.

Jev sighed, watching Dan desperately trying to get Felipinho to open his eyes. His stomach lurched when the tiny child gave no response.

“He is ill.”

“He’ll get better.” Dan said. “We just need to make sure he keeps drinking. He’ll be fine.”

“He is drinking now and it is not working,” Jev said. “He needs medicine or something. We have to go to Sebastian.”

“We can’t,” Dan said. Then they would all get into trouble. Felipinho would get better by himself and they could go and take him to his father. If they went to Sebastian they were going to captain Webber, and that was killing all three of them.

“If he is not better by this time tomorrow, I am getting Sebastian,” Jev said.

“The only reason you care about him is to get that stupid pardon,” Dan muttered. He wasn’t looking at Jev, his eyes staying on Felipinho, watching his short, shallow breaths.

“Are you serious?” Jev asked, almost laughing in shock. “You cannot say that and be serious.”

“Why?” Dan asked, sniffing. He had tears in his eyes again and it was a little disturbing how little of his usual trademark smile Jev had seen since they’d found the child. “I bet you were overjoyed when you saw that reward.”

“I care about Felipinho because I have a heart,” Jev said. “I care about him for the same reason you do. And he is only going to get worse if we do not do anything. Let me go and get Sebastian.”

“You’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you,” Dan said, quietly, his tears dripping onto Felipinho’s face.

“I’m going to do what’s right for the child,” Jev said. “It will help, Jev, I promise. We will sort things out with the captain once he is better.”

“Alright,” Dan said, quietly, pulling Felipinho closer to him.

“I will go now,” Jev said. It was the middle of the night and they were both supposed to be sleeping, but Dan didn’t want to leave Felipinho for any longer than they needed to and Jev didn’t have the heart to force him. Neither of them would have slept in their bunks anyway.

Dan watched his friend leave, forcing himself to remain calm. He was right. This was for the best.

He was rocking Felipinho, something he hadn’t actually noticed before. The child’s entire body was still red hot but Dan insisted on wrapping him up in Jev’s blanket and anything else they could find that didn’t smell too much of sick.

“We’re going to get you some help, alright?” Dan whispered. “Jev’s going to find someone who’s going to make you better. Don’t worry.”

_And hopefully he won’t get us all killed._

The child still wouldn’t open his eyes and that was worrying Dan but he’d decided he wasn’t going to think about that. It was probably because he was tired. He would be used to eating way more than he had been and his body hadn’t adapted to that. That was all that was wrong.

“You’re going to be ok, don’t worry,” Dan said, pressing a kiss to Felipinho’s forehead.

They sat in silence for a while, Felipinho’s shaky, shallow breaths the only sound until there was a clatter from the ladder and Jev reappeared. Dan automatically held the child closer when he spotted Sebastian. They’d been keeping this a secret so well for so long now and Dan didn’t want the doctor to ruin that.

Sebastian froze when he saw the child.

“You were not joking then,” he said, dropping his bag of instruments beside him..

Jev shook his head and came over to Dan. He somehow manage to pry Felipinho away from him, holding the limp body in his arms and coming over to Sebastian. The doctor stepped back.

“It stinks down here,” he said.

“He’s ill,” Jev said again, holding out Felipinho for Sebastian to see. The child managed to crack an eye open, peering at Sebastian through his eye lashes.

“Dan?”

“It’s ok,” Dan said, coming over. “This is the man who’s going to make you better, ok?”

Sebastian cringed, looking between Jev and Dan. “How long has he been here?”

“Since we took the ship,” Jev said.

“And how long has he been ill.”

“A week.”

“Right,” Sebastian said. “And you are both fine?”

“Look at us,” Jev said. “We are not ill. Just come and do whatever it is you need to do. You can run off and tell Webber later, if you see fit. But for now, do your work.”

Sebastian grumbled something about respect of senior crew but waved for Jev to lie Felipinho back down and the doctor knelt beside the body.

“Is maybe not contagious then,” Sebastian said, but he didn’t look too please as he unwrapped the child, touching the blankets as little as possible. He pulled Felipinho’s shirt off and threw it and the blankets and Dan. “These will need washing. Quickly. Whatever is wrong, it cannot be any good to be wrapped up in these things. Go and do it now.”

Dan nodded, hurrying out of the hold to go and wash the things. Jev had a suspicion Sebastian had only done that to get Dan out of the way. He didn’t know if he should be thankful for that.

“He is going to be ok?”

Sebastian didn’t answer straight away, placing a hand against the child’s chest. Felipinho shivered a little at the touch, Sebastian’s hands cold, but the doctor didn’t seem to notice. He searched for a pulse and barely found one, all the while shaking his head and muttering to himself in German. He waved for the bag he’d left behind and Jev brought it over, watching Sebastian take out instruments and get on with his work.

“You should have come to me earlier,” he said.

“I know,” Jev said, quietly. “Dan did not want to.”

“Dan is an idiot,” Sebastian muttered, peering down the child’s throat.

“He was just trying to protect him,” Jev said, automatically defensive of his friend.

“Maybe, but he has probably killed him,” Sebastian said, standing.

Jev shook his head. “No. You are going to make him better.”

“There is nothing I can do,” Sebastian said. “I will not tell Mark. I think maybe he has a couple of days left, and there is no point getting you and Dan in trouble over a couple of days. All I will say is that you should get rid of the body when the child is gone. I do not think it is healthy to have a dead body near our food supply, even if Jenson does boil everything into a tasteless soup.”

Jev was still shaking his head. “He can’t be dead. You have to do something.”

“I am sorry,” Sebastian said, but he didn’t sound sorry in the slightest. “It is not good to see anybody die, but there is simply nothing I can do. Keep giving him food and water and maybe he will last a little longer, but…”

“Dan?” Felipinho mumbled. “Dan?”

“Dan will be back in a minute,” Jev said, quickly, sitting down beside the child. He looked up at Sebastian, unsure what he was expecting but knowing he was expecting _something_.

Sebastian just shook his head. “I’m sorry.”

By the time Dan came back Sebastian was gone. Jev smiled weakly at him, laughing as Dan cringed with the wet clothes in his hands.

“What did Sebastian say?” Dan asked.

“He gave him some medicine or something,” Jev lied. “Said he should begin to get better within a week or so. It will probably get worse before it gets better.”

He was not going to tell Dan. His friend didn’t need to know the truth just yet. He could be happy for a little while longer. Dan grinned and jumped about, pulling Jev into a hug and swinging him into a dance.

“And is he going to tell Webber?” he asked.

“I do not think so,” Jev said. “He seemed to like him.”

“That’s because he’s adorable,” Dan said, letting go of Jev to scoop Felipinho up. “Do you hear that, little man? You’ll be better soon, don’t worry.”

Jev watched him, trying to keep the smile on his face for Dan’s sake. He’d promised he would look after his friend and now he needed him more than ever.

 

“Where’s Dan?”

Jev looked up from where he was trying to unknot old rigging to find Daniil looking down at him. He just shrugged and went back to work.

Felipinho was getting worse, if that was possible, and Dan had wanted to stay with him. Jev had tried to tell him he was being stupid, tried to insist he come and work like he was supposed to and check on the child when he could, but his friend wasn’t having any of it. He wasn’t sure how much longer he was going to be able to keep up this lie that it wasn’t hopeless, but Felipinho had lasted this long, hadn’t he? That had to be a good thing.

“Do not give me that. Where is he?”

“I do not know,” Jev said, through gritted teeth, not looking up from his work this time.

He was _not_ going to cry over the child. It should have been dead long before now. If he had done what he had wanted to do in the first place, it would already have been dead and Dan wouldn’t have to go through all this. Dan wouldn’t have gotten attached. _He_ wouldn’t have gotten attached.

“You two are practically glued at the hip,” Daniil said.

Jev bit down harder on the inside of his cheek, resisting the urge to punch the kid’s teeth straight.

“Where is he?”

“Ill.”

Jev looked up to find Sebastian coming over.

“He is ill, so I sent him to rest in my cabin, least we all end up sick,” Sebastian said. “Is that a problem for you?”

The Russian mumbled something neither of them heard before hurrying off to do his own work. Sebastian watched him go before sitting down beside Jev.

“Grieving?” he asked.

“He’s not dead yet,” Jev said. “You are certain there is not any chance? Not anything you can give him?”

“If there was, I would have given it to him,” Sebastian said. “It is bad luck to have death on a ship.”

Jev’s vision blurred and he was _not_ going to cry over some spoilt brat, but he wiped his eyes anyway, fighting uselessly with the knots in the tangled rigging.

“How has he taken it?” Sebastian asked.

“He doesn’t know,” Jev said. It was useless. There was no way these knots were coming out and they were going to have to buy new rope.

“You haven’t told him?” Sebastian said. “It is probably for the best. No point hurting him before it is necessary.”

Jev shook his head, wiping his eyes again. He couldn’t do this. Sebastian could sit there and be sympathetic all he wanted, but it was going to be _him_ having to sit there with Dan when the child died. _Him_ having to console his friend. _Him_ having to fulfil Sebastian’s wishes because what else were they supposed to do?

“I should get back to work,” Sebastian said. “If anybody else asks about Dan, send them to me?”

“Alright.”

Sebastian smiled weakly and left. That was it. He could just leave. But Jev… Jev had let himself be sucked in by the child and there was no leaving now.


	6. Recovery

Maybe he was imagining it – pushing the hope onto real life because it was easier that way – but Jev was pretty sure Felipinho was getting better. He didn’t want to believe it, because it _couldn’t_ be true, but there was no denying it when he was woken in the middle of the night by a hand shaking his shoulder. Jev woke to find enormous brown eyes peering back at him beneath a mop of black hair.

“Can’t find Dan,” Felipinho whispered.

“What? What are you doing here?”

Just over a week ago he’d barely been able to open his eyes, let alone manage to get all the way from the hold into the bunk room. Sure, he’d been getting more food than before, Jev sacrificing a little of both of his meals for the child – not that Dan knew – and forcing Felipinho to eat it, but that didn’t explain this. Sebastian had said-

“Looking for Dan. Can’t find him.”

The child still had Jev’s blanket wrapped over his shoulders like a cloak and it was going to have to be washed to get the stench of sick out of it.

This had to be a dream. That explained it. He was dreaming. Or the child had passed away and this was its ghost. Jev couldn’t decide which was worse.

He shook his head, sitting up. There were no such thing as ghosts.

“Dan’s right-.” Jev reached up to the bunk above him, but found it empty. Dan wasn’t right there. That was… weird. But Jev decided the more important problem was the fact Felipinho was in a room full of people who couldn’t know he existed. “Why do you need Dan?”

Felipinho shrugged, his fingers back in his mouth.

“You cannot be here,” Jev said. “You will get caught.”

“Need Dan,” Felipinho said, slobber dripping from the fingers in his mouth. “Need him to not be sad anymore.”

“We’ll go and find Dan then,” Jev said, mentally groaning. He still didn’t entirely believe this was real, but he was going to go with it for now. There was probably a sea monster waiting to eat him when he came out onto the deck but, right now, he was too tired to care.

Standing, Jev peered around the room of sleeping sailors, but Dan wasn’t one of them. He couldn’t think of anywhere else he could be, but sighed anyway and, lifting the child – or what he had come to think of as a child – into his arms, left the bunk room.

He peered around the corner of the door onto the deck, but there didn’t seem to be anyone there, again. Silently, he put Felipinho down and stepped out into the freezing night, wishing he could take his blanket back from the child. The table where the night workers usually sat was empty. There was nobody here.

“Wait here,” Jev whispered. He didn’t trust the emptiness. There had to be someone here. Unless, of course, they’d all been eaten by the sea monster Felipinho was luring Jev towards. He gulped and took another step onto the deck. “Dan? Are you out here?”

Silence. He still couldn’t see anyone on the deck and that was really, really wrong. He glanced back the way he had come, spotted Felipinho still lurking in the shadows with the blanket pulled up to his chin, and signalled for him to wait there. The child just nodded.

“Dan?” Jev called, a little louder. He had to be here somewhere. And if not Dan, someone else.

The night was feeling stranger and stranger and Jev couldn’t help but glance back at the miraculously recovered child every couple of seconds, wanting to make sure he wasn’t about to be pounced on. But Felipinho seemed to be watching him with fear in his eyes and there didn’t seem to be any sign of an attack. It didn’t settle him though.

“Dan!”

“Over here,” came a hoarse voice from the other end of the ship. Jev waved for Felipinho to wait where he was before hurrying over to investigate. Dan stood at the edge of the ship, leaning hard against the boards there. Jev approached slowly, unsettled by the hoarseness of Dan’s voice and, when he got closer, he noticed the tears.

“Where are the others?” Jev asked.

There were supposed to be at least two people on night watch at any one time.

“Sebastian and the captain are supposed to be out here,” Dan said, bitterly. “Three guesses where they are now.”

That explained… absolutely nothing.

Jev came a little closer, still hesitant about getting too close whilst he didn’t know why his friend was upset.

“Asked me to keep watch for them, but that was half an hour ago,” Dan finished.

“And you are… ok?” Jev asked.

Dan shook his head and stepped back, hands still pressed against the board that stopped him falling into the ocean. He took a deep breath, shaking as he tried to stop crying, then laughed a little.

“I’m fine, mate, really,” he insisted, looking up at Jev with glistening eyes and a broad smile that was clearly fake.

“What are you doing up?” Jev asked. He doubted Sebastian or Webber would come down and get Dan out of bed just do they could go off and… do whatever it was they did when they skived off.

Dan shrugged. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Is probably easier to sleep when you are in your bunk than out here,” Jev said, cupping Dan’s face in his hands when his friend tried to look away. “Come on. What is the matter?”

“I’m fine,” Dan tried to insist, pulling away from Jev and taking a couple of steps away from him. Jev followed him, like he knew he would. “Go back to bed.”

“Not until you have told me what is wrong,” Jev said, gently, wiping a tear from his friend’s eye.

“Nothing is wrong,” Dan said, taking a deep breath and bracing himself against the board he was still leaning against. “I’m just scared.”

“Scared?” Jev asked.

Dan squeezed his eyes shut and let out a long breath only to take another, deeper one. He should have known that wouldn’t make Jev shut up.

He nodded, his eyes still closed, and felt a pair of hands slip around his waist. Jev’s stubble scratched against his cheek and he felt the Frenchman’s lips against his ear.

“Scared of what?”

“You don’t want to be here,” Dan said.

“I want to be wherever you are,” Jev said.

“You hate it here,” Dan said.

“I would hate home more if you weren’t there,” Jev said. “I am not going to leave you Dan.”

“You’ll get sick of me someday,” Dan said. “You want to settle down, get a wife, and a kid. Like your friend did.”

“I want you,” Jev said, letting Dan pull away from him only to follow him when the Australian wandered away. “You are a wife _and_ a kid, and if you do not want to settle down, then neither do I. What has brought all this on?”

“Nothing.”

“It has not just occurred to you, Dan,” Jev said, marching after his friend. “What has made you think of this?”

“You’ve been different ever since Sebastian found out about Felipinho, acting strange,” Dan said. “And don’t say you haven’t, because you have.”

He had been. But that was nothing to do with Dan. That was probably down to the fact that he knew what Sebastian had told him and he’d been doing his best to keep that from his friend. To stop him hurting like he was.

“That is not your fault,” Jev said, gently.

“You hate it here and you resent me for bringing you here,” Dan said. “Sebastian’s probably said something, hasn’t he?”

“Sebastian has not said anything,” Jev said. He hadn’t. Not about anything Dan was going on about, anyway. “Dan, stop being stupid. I love you. Nothing you do could make me hate you. I am sorry for acting weird. It is just Felipinho being ill and everything.”

“You’re not ill, are you?” Dan asked suddenly, jerking away from Jev and finally looking up at him with tear filled eyes.

“Of course not,” Jev said, putting his arms around Dan.

“Good,” Dan said, falling into the embrace. “I don’t know what I’d do if you were ill as well.”

“Probably panic lots,” Jev said, holding Dan tightly.

The stood in silence for a while, shivering in the cold when the wind picked up a little and made the entire boat creak.

“What are you doing up anyway?” Dan asked.

“Well,” Jev said, before suddenly remembering why he was up. “There was a little boy who was so worried about you being sad he came and woke me up.”

“Felipinho?” Dan asked, pulling away from Jev to look at him properly. “Felipinho woke you up?”

Jev nodded. “I should probably tell him he can come out now.”

He took Dan’s hand and led him back around to the main part of the deck. Felipinho was still stood in the shadows by the door that led off to the bunk room, shivering in the cold with the blanket wrapped tightly around him, hidden unless you knew where to look. Until he spotted Dan, of course, at which point he stumbled out of his hiding place, tripping on the blanket that was wrapped around his feet.

“Dan?”

“What are you doing out here?” Dan said, grinning and scooping Felipinho up, blankets and all. “You’re not going to get any better if you’re out here in the cold, are you?”

He held Felipinho close to him, the two of them mumbling to one another too quietly for Jev to hear. The Frenchman just smiled, watching Dan take the child back to the hold, before following them in quickly.

“We are going to have to be quick, because if the ship crashes into anything, I’m going to be the one in trouble,” Dan said.

“I will go and watch, if you want?” Jev said, even though Dan seemed to spend every spare second he had around Felipinho and really he didn’t need to spend that long down here now. Dan just smiled and nodded and Jev disappeared back up the stairs.

“What were you doing out of bed then?”

“You’re sad,” Felipinho said. “Why are you sad? Is it because the doctor person said I was going to die?”

“No, I- What?”

“The doctor person,” Felipinho said, squirming so he could sit up and explain himself properly. “The man who you said was going to make me better. He said he couldn’t make me better. But look. I’m ok. So you can be happy now.”

“Sebastian never said that, mate,” Dan said, gently, smoothing down a flick in the child’s hair. “He gave you some medicine, remember?”

Felipinho shook his head. “He said it. When you took my blanket and top away and made them wet, he said I was going to die.”

Dan peered at Felipinho, trying to make some sense of what he’d been told. Sebastian hadn’t said that. Jev had _told_ him what had happened.

“You’re not going to die, mate,” Dan whispered, still patting down the flick of hair. “I promise. You are not going to be hurt.”

Jev had told him Sebastian had given him medicine. Jev had said he would be better soon, and he was. Looking at him now, he was fine. Maybe a little paler than usual, and definitely a lot thinner than when they had first found him, but that was only to be expected. He was eating more. He was talking and walking. He was _fine_. Why would Sebastian have said otherwise? Why would Jev had lied if he had said otherwise?

“It’s what the doctor said.”

“He didn’t say that, it’s ok.”

“He _did_ ,” Felipinho whinged, his voice getting higher and ending with a hiccup that only meant tears. “You don’t believe me, do you?”

“It must have been a dream,” Dan said. “You were very poorly. Now, come on. Let’s get you settled. If I’m not up there when the captain comes out he might come looking for me, and we don’t want that.”

“Didn’t dream it,” Felipinho mumbled, grumpily, but it looked like he was going to settle anyway, curling up with Jev’s blanket on the small bed they had made with the sacks of flour.

“You don’t worry about anything, alright,” Dan said, gently. “I’m happy. And even if I wasn’t, that’s Jev’s problem, not yours.”

He leaned over to kiss the child on the forehead before standing.

“Alright,” Felipinho said. “Good night, Dan.”

“Good night.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”


	7. Discovery

Somehow, and he wasn’t entirely sure how, Jev managed to convince Dan that they shouldn’t go to Sebastian to show him Felipinho was alright. There was a chance Sebastian wouldn’t say anything anyway but, considering how close he’d become with the captain, Jev didn’t want to take that chance. Sebastian didn’t need to know.

Even when Felipinho was definitely back to his usual self, Jev didn’t stop sharing his small portion of gruel. The child needed it more than he did, he felt, and it stopped Dan looking pitifully at the bowl of extras Jenson gave them, considering dumping a spoonful of his own breakfast in there. It wouldn’t be much longer, Jev judged. They would have to be turning back soon anyway, then Felipinho could go home and they could get back to their old lives, if Dan had seen sense by that point.

It was their turn for the night shift, so Dan and Jev were both in the bunk room, almost alone with only a few other ship mates spending the daytime in bed. Judging by the sounds of the snores coming from below him, Jev was fast asleep but, no matter how hard he tried, Dan couldn’t settle. Something wasn’t right.

He lay, as still as he could, trying to convince himself it was nothing, and that if he didn’t go to sleep now, he was going to be exhausted on the night shift, but it didn’t help. If anything, it kept him awake worrying about how tired he was going to be later.

Something was no right.

“Jev?” he hissed, sitting up. Maybe he just needed to settle his mind and then he would be able to sleep. It seemed stupid. He spent most of the days trying to drag himself out of a sleepful state and the one time he actually needed to sleep- nothing.

It was nosier than usual up on the deck, he realised as he leaned over the bunk to look down at Jev, waiting to spot any signs of faking sleep. Maybe that had something to do with it.

“Jev?”

There was a cheer from up on the deck, making Dan jump a little and fall out of the bunk, the crash waking Jev.

“What are you doing?” Jev hissed.

Before Dan could answer, Sebastian burst into the bunk room, the panic on his face instantly transferring onto Dan and Jev’s, even if the latter was still half asleep.

“You need to come,” Sebastian said, waving for them before rushing back out as Dan asked for an explanation. He turned to Jev, rubbing his head where he’d fallen on it, and shrugged. Jev just shook his head, holding out his hand to help Dan up, and followed Sebastian out of the bunk room.

An explanation was not given straight away. It seemed like the entire crew were crowded onto the main deck, all trying to catch a glimpse of something in the centre. The captain was yelling something but neither of them could quite hear it over the cheers that it raised from their crew mates. Sebastian rolled his eyes at his sleepy friends, grabbing the cuff of Dan’s sleeve and dragging him through the crowd, Jev following quickly behind.

“It comes onto _our_ ship and eats _our_ food and what do you think of that?”

There was another deafening cheer and Dan’s stomach lurched even before he and Sebastian had made it to the middle. Captain Webber held Felipinho by the wrist, lifting the child off of the deck so as many of the crew could see him as possible. Dan shuffled back, into Jev. He wanted to know what Sebastian was trying to say into his ear, but his brain wasn’t really working anymore and he couldn’t take his eyes off of Felipinho.

“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”

He dropped Felipinho back onto the deck and, as soon as it was released, Felipinho pulled his hand back to his chest. Tears streamed down his face and he searched the crowd for help. Dan shuffled a little further back.

“Well?”

“It is _not_ your ship!” Felipinho shouted as soon as he realised there was nobody coming to help him. “It is my Papa’s ship. It is _not_ your food. It is _my_ food.”

At first, Webber looked shocked, but, as soon as the crowd that had formed began to fall silent, he seemed to realise he couldn’t let the child get away with that. He brought the back of his hand down across Felipinho’s cheek, a ring splitting skin and drawing blood. Dan bit his lip, reaching back for Jev’s hand.

“Aren’t you going to do anything?” Sebastian asked.

“That’s a good imagination you’ve got there kid,” Webber said, taking hold of Felipinho’s arm again. “But you’re playing with the grown-ups now.”

“I want to go home,” Felipinho sobbed. “Dan and Jev said they were going to take me home.”

The crew was silent, heads turning in a wave towards Dan and Jev. Sebastian stepped away from them, dropping his own eyes to the floor. The captain didn’t let go of Felipinho’s arm, though, dragging the child across to where Dan and Jev were watching, squirming uncomfortably beneath everybody’s gaze.

“Explain.”

“Don’t know what he’s talking about,” Dan said, but it was no use.

“I didn’t mean to get caught,” Felipinho said. “I was hiding like you said but they were looking for the flour and then they found me. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t know what he’s talking about?” Webber asked. “Explain.”

For a short while, Dan didn’t say anything. He couldn’t look at the captain, or else he was going to be sick. But he couldn’t look down because catching sight of Felipinho was going to make him even worse.

Jev took a deep breath, getting ready to try to explain for Dan, when Dan spoke.

“I found him,” he said. “When we first took the ship. He got left behind. I just wanted to take him home.”

“You’ve been keeping it here for months?” the captain asked, disgusted. “Taking food out of your own ship mate’s mouths.”

“No, it wasn’t like that,” Dan said. “He only ever had some of my food. Come on, man. He’s just a kid that wants to go home to his family.”

“There’s a reward!” Jev piped up, quickly. Maybe the captain wasn’t going to listen to Dan and his morals, but there was money at stake here and he was probably going to listen to that. A little frantically, Jev found the scrap of paper Romain had given him, which he kept in his pocket at all times, and handed it to the captain. Webber let go of Felipinho’s hand to look at it.

“A reward,” he repeated.

“His father wants him back safe,” Jev explained, whilst Dan crouched down beside Felipinho. “We were trying to find him a safe place to live in one of the ports when we found out.”

“Are you ok?” Dan whispered whilst Jev read to the captain what was written.

Felipinho shook his head, wiping his eyes. “They’re going to throw me into the water now, aren’t they? Like Jev said.”

“No, no they’re not,” Dan said, gently, pulling the child towards him. “I’m not going to let them.”

He didn’t know how much truth there was in that, but he was at least going to try. He scooped Felipinho up, letting the child bury his face in his shirt, and stood.

“And you were going to take him to get the reward for yourself?” Webber asked.

“For all of us,” Jev said. “He is like the tobacco, no? We took his from the traders like we did with the tobacco and, now that we have found somewhere that will pay well for him, we trade him.”

He’d no idea how successful this argument was going to be, but it had to work, or else all three of them were going to end up dead. He glanced sideways at Dan, who was still whispering calming thoughts into Felipinho’s ear.

“And you know we can’t get any more than this?” Webber asked. He seemed to be going along with it, Jev thought, but he didn’t know if he could trust himself to breath yet.

“He is too young to sell as a worker and we would be lucky to not have to pay for a place in the work house,” Jev said. There was no evidence to back up his claims, but he was pretty sure he knew more about the workings of selling children than the captain did, and Webber knew it.

“Alright,” Webber said. “Which port?”

“You’re going to let him stay?” Dan asked in disbelief. Felipinho looked up at the captain with wide, tear filled eyes which Dan mimicked perfectly.

“Which port?” Webber asked, ignoring the question.

“Montefiore,” Jev said. “On the East Banks.”

It was the closest port to where they’d taken Felipinho’s father’s ship and, though Jev was sure that wasn’t where the child and his parent’s lived, it looked like the father hadn’t left the port after being thrown off of the boat.

“Right,” Webber said, and Jev could practically see him thinking this through, the cogs in his brain turning slowly. It was a lot of money, and he had to have realised that. Far more than they were losing through the extra food and water. “He stays.”

A low murmur broke out through the crew, but it was silenced as soon as he turned around.

“Sebastian, make sure he’s well,” Webber said. “We wouldn’t want to be delivering damaged goods.”

Whilst the rest of the crew got on with their work, Dan and Jev followed Sebastian through to his private cabin, Felipinho still in Dan’s arms.

“How did he find out?” Dan asked as soon as the door as shut. There were still tears in his eyes as he put Felipinho down on the bed.

“They were moving food into Jenson’s store room,” Sebastian said. “Or that is what I heard. I was working.”

“Hey, it’s ok,” Dan said, sitting on the bed beside Felipinho and wiping his tears. “You’re safe now.”

“I’m still going to go home?” Felipinho asked, sniffing and trying to stop crying, but it wasn’t working that well.

“Yeah.”

“I’m not tobacco,” Felipinho said, accusingly, glaring up at Jev and making the Frenchman laugh.

“I know you’re not,” Jev said. “That was not what I meant. It is just the way the captain talks.”

“Oh,” Felipinho said, wincing as Sebastian wiped his cheek. “Do I still have to stay in the hold?”

“I’m not sure,” Dan said.

“I will speak to Mark,” Sebastian said, dabbing at the blood that refused to stop flowing. “See if I can get him to find you somewhere nicer.”

“Thank you,” Dan said.

“What I do not understand,” Sebastian said, dampening his cloth again. “Is why he is still here? He should not be alive. And he definitely should not be this well.”

“I told you,” Felipinho said, quietly, looking up at Dan. Dan had gone very pale, and wasn’t sure which of his friends he should ask first. Jev was looking particularly guilty whilst Sebastian didn’t seem to notice how serious his comment was.

“We just did as you said,” Jev said, nervously. “Gave him food and water.”

“No, he should not have lived,” Sebastian said. “Ok, maybe a little longer if you were extremely lucky, but he should not have gotten better. It does not make any sense.”

“Maybe we were just extremely lucky,” Jev suggested, glancing over at Dan, who was now glaring at him. He was going to have to explain. Sebastian _knew_ he hadn’t said anything to Dan, but the German had still felt the need to blurt out the truth. Idiot.

“I don’t believe it,” Sebastian said. “You are a demon,” he concluded.

“Am not,” Felipinho said, disgusted.

“Maybe you just got it wrong,” Jev suggested, making Sebastian scoff.

“Maybe, but I do not think it is likely,” the doctor said. “It is a demon, or perhaps protected by one. It would explain why it is still here. I could run some tests…”

“You are not doing anything to him,” Dan said, wrapping his arms around the child and pulling him onto his lap. “You just made a mistake. You’re not punishing him for that.”

“They are tests,” Sebastian said. “To keep us safe.”

“He’s been on this ship for months and he hasn’t hurt anyone,” Dan said. “You’re not doing anything. He’s not a demon. Just very lucky. Leave him alone.”

Sebastian stepped back and held his hands up. “Fine. I will go and tell Mark he is fine and ask where you can keep him.”

Dan nodded and Sebastian disappeared, leaving them in silence. Dan didn’t even look at Jev, pressing a kiss onto the top of Felipinho’s head and letting the child curl up on his lap.

“I can explain,” Jev said, but that wasn’t really true.

“Sebastian told you he was going to die and you didn’t tell me,” Dan whispered, his eyes closed.

“I did not think you would need to know,” Jev said. “I was protecting you. You could not do anything about it anyway. There was no need for you to know.”

“There was,” Dan said, even though he couldn’t come up with any reason. The logical part of his mind was telling him that Jev had done the right thing, but he didn’t feel like listening to that part of his brain. “You should have told me.”

“I am sorry,” Jev said, gently, sitting on the bed beside Dan.

Dan just shook his head, not trusting himself to speak now. They weren’t going to have an argument in front of Felipinho, not when he must have already been scared to death. Jev put his arm around Dan’s waist, but Dan only ignored him.

“Dan?”

“Just go,” Dan said, still not looking at him.

“I really am sorry,” Jev said, but it was clear his friend wasn’t listening anymore, so he just stood and, glancing back once more at Dan, left Sebastian’s cabin.


	8. The Captain

The captain called for Sebastian to come in almost as soon as he knocked, knowing who it would be, but Sebastian still waited a couple of seconds before entering. The captain’s cabin was modest to begin with and they hadn’t really changed anything since they took the ship: just the bed, the small table and its two chairs, and the small desk Mark was currently sat at.

The captain was looking over the map the traders had been using before they had found better use for them. Montefiore was at least a month’s travel, and they had other things to do whilst they went. It was a lot of trouble to go to for a child, but it was a lot of money too. There was no denying that.

“You knew about him, didn’t you?” Mark asked, not turning to look at Sebastian.

The doctor gulped, closing the door behind him and blocking out the noise from the workers outside.

“Yes.”

He didn’t know how Mark knew, but lying would do him no good and he knew it.

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“He was ill,” Sebastian explained. “I thought he was going to die. He _should have_ died. I did not think it would be worth the trouble, if he was going to die anyway. You would never have needed to know and we would all carry on like before.”

“But he didn’t die, did he?” Mark said.

“No,” Sebastian said, nervously. “He seems perfectly fine. It does not make any sense to me and I do not like it.”

“Of course you don’t,” Mark said, finally turning away from the map to look at the ship’s doctor. “You put far too much faith in science, but there are some things in this world that science cannot explain.”

“Yet,” Sebastian added without even thinking, immediately regretting it.

Mark stopped, cocking his head a little as he looked Sebastian up and down again. Sebastian involuntarily shivered under his gaze, but knew better than to speak.

“Yet,” Mark agreed. “Did you know how much the child was worth when you condemned it to death?”

“No sir,” Sebastian said, quietly. He didn’t even bother to point out that there was nothing he could have done for the child when it was ill. It was already too late.

“You very almost lost us a lot of money, Sebastian,” Mark said.

“It was not my fault,” Sebastian said.

“No?”

“Ricciardo and Vergne have been keeping him in awful conditions,” Sebastian said. “They’ve asked if he can stay somewhere else until we arrive at Montefiore.”

“Where?” Mark asked.

“I don’t know,” Sebastian admitted. “Just somewhere better. I think it would probably be a good idea.”

“You think?”

“Yes,” Sebastian said. “There is no good in delivering damaged goods and I am certain he will only get ill again if he stays down there.”

“He is cargo,” Mark said. “He stays with the cargo.”

“Mark,” Sebastian said, gently, but he knew it would be no use.

“You can tell them,” Mark said.

“Alright,” Sebastian mumbled. He didn’t think either Dan or Jev would be very happy with that, but they could come and argue with Mark about themselves if they really cared that much. “What’s the matter?”

“Besides the fact that two of my crew have been hiding a child aboard the ship, stealing food and water to keep it alive?”

“It was not the child’s fault, though,” Sebastian said. “And people have done worse things than that aboard your ship. _I_ have done worse things than that. Something is wrong. What is it?”

“You have to demand a certain amount of respect, Sebastian,” Mark said. “That’s all.”

“And hitting the child got you that respect?”

“Hitting the child told them I was not going to allow a child to disrespect me,” Mark said. “Is there a reason you are so concerned about that all of a sudden?”

“Because that wasn’t you out there,” Sebastian said. “I am worried about you Mark. You have not been yourself lately. It did not start with this child. What is the matter? What aren’t you telling me?”

“Nothing,” Mark said again, turning back to the maps he had been looking at before Sebastian came in. The doctor was closer to the captain than any other member of the crew, even those who had known Mark for year longer. It was not a relationship Mark was ashamed of but, at the same time, he wasn’t proud of it either. Mark hated it. Hated how the German could read every move he made and know what he was thinking without even having to ask. He hated how Sebastian used none of anything Mark had told him when he was very drunk against him, but made it perfectly clear he would if Mark were ever to hurt him. He hated how, even without the threats, Mark would never think about treating him like anybody else.

Sebastian sat on the edge of Mark’s bed, watching him peer at the map and waiting for him to speak.

“I am not going to be here much longer,” Mark said, eventually.

“What?”

“Here,” Mark said, not daring to take his eyes off of the map to look at his friend. “I will not be here much longer.”

“I do not… I do not know what you are talking about,” Sebastian said, slowly. He just wished Mark would look at him. Then he might be able to start to make some sense of what the captain was saying.

“There is a woman,” Mark said. He hoped Sebastian would be able to figure out everything that needed to be said from that but, when he looked over at Sebastian, Mark found him watching him, expecting more. He took another deep breath. “There is a woman and she is carrying my child.”

Most people in Mark’s position would just leave it. And he knew that. He wished he could just put the child away at the back of his mind and pay it no attention, but he just couldn’t.

“And?” Sebastian asked, but he had to know what was coming next.

Mark shook his head, glancing up at Sebastian again.

“What, Mark?” Sebastian asked, standing. “You are going to abandon us to go off and marry some whore because of a child that does not exist yet?”

“She isn’t a whore, Sebastian,” Mark said, quietly, but he didn’t think the doctor was listening to him.

“You’re going to abandon me?” Sebastian asked.

“This was not going to last forever, was it?” Mark asked, glaring at Sebastian. How dare he make this about him? Mark was leaving a life he loved to do, for possibly the first time in his entire life, the _right_ thing, and the young German could not think past the immediate consequences to himself. “What did you think was going to happen? We were going to be happy and together for the rest of our lives? The world moves on, Sebastian, and we all have to move on with it. She is a nice woman and if I am going to father a child, I am going to do it properly.”

“Do you love her?” Sebastian asked.

“What?”

“Do you love her?”

“You think I love you?” Mark asked, trying to make sure Sebastian didn’t hear the lump in his throat. He would never hear the end of it if the doctor knew the truth.

“Do you love her?” Sebastian asked again, the tears clear in his voice.

“She’s carrying my child,” Mark said again. It seemed to be all the answer Sebastian needed, the doctor marching out of the captain’s cabin to go off and deal with whatever it was Sebastian needed to deal with. Mark took another deep breath, trying to ignore how much it shook when he let it go.

That went better than expected.

 

It was a lot later when Mark eventually came out of his cabin again. There was the usual supper time silence aboard the ship, work stopping for a short while whilst everybody ate. Dan and Jev were sat together, as always, deep in a discussion that stopped as soon as they caught sight of their captain. Mark didn’t say anything to them, or to anybody else.

He wondered if Sebastian had told any of them what he said. He knew the German had been good at keeping his secrets so far, but he didn’t know how much he could trust Sebastian with. He’d never told him something as important as this before, and it was beginning to worry Mark a little as he crossed the deck to go and get himself some food, all eyes on him as he walked.

Unsurprisingly, Mark found Sebastian with the cook, sat at the small table Jenson used for preparation, staring miserably into his bowl. He didn’t look up when Mark came in. Jenson offered the captain a small smile, not entirely sure what he was supposed to say, before quickly returning to the cleaning he was doing.

Mark cleared his throat, attracting Sebastian’s attention. The doctor’s tear filled eyes bore into Mark’s and he found he had no idea what to say now. Jenson watched them staring at each other in silence for a couple of moments before deciding that now was probably a good time for him to take a break.

“Seb,” Mark said, quietly, once the cook was gone.

Sebastian shook his head and returned his attention to his food. Mark snapped, slamming his hand against the table and making Sebastian jump.

“I am sorry,” Mark said. “I never meant for this to happen, did I? Do you think I want to leave all this? You? This has been my life for as long as I can remember. But I am not going to let that kid grow up without a father.”

Sebastian opened his mouth to speak, but seemed to think better of it and quickly closed it again. His eyes flicked between the food and Mark, each time the captain’s face calmer than the last.

“How long have you known?” Sebastian asked, quietly.

Mark shrugged. A while. He didn’t want to tell Sebastian that, though. He’d been trying to think of a way to tell him since he found out and, even though he had never come up with something that seemed “right” to him, he’d never wanted it to be anything like what had happened.

“Were you even going to tell us?” Sebastian asked. “Or were you just going to disappear?”

“Of course I was going to tell you,” Mark said.

“When?”

“I hadn’t planned that far,” Mark lied. He’d wanted to do it once they got to a few ports beyond Montefiore. There the rest of the crew would be able to find other employment. The port, Port Elizabeth, was a place the crew would find exactly what they needed, and sell whatever stock they had when they got to the port.

“You haven’t thought this through,” Sebastian said. “You can go and visit the child, can’t you? You do not have to be there the entire time.”

“I want to be,” Mark said.

“You said-.”

“Stop, Sebastian,” Mark snapped. He shut his eyes, falling onto the stool opposite the doctor. “It isn’t simple.”

“Why not?”

Mark almost laughed, looking up at Sebastian before squirming uncomfortably and looking away again.

“You’re not him,” Sebastian said. “He left. He ran away. You were never committed in the first place.”

Mark stopped fidgeting, looking up at Sebastian. “Don’t you dare speak about him.”

“This is what this is about, isn’t it?” Sebastian asked.

“You have no idea what this is about,” Mark spat.

“This is about you not wanting to become your father,” Sebastian said. “But that is not what is going to happen, Mark. You are not that person.”

“Shut _up_ ,” Mark snapped again, making Sebastian jump and shrink away from him a little. He should have felt guilty for that, but he didn’t. Sebastian knew better than to just talk about that man. He knew better than to bring that up.

The doctor on the other side of the table pushed his chair back. He stood, and took his bowl of food with him.

“Maybe I should go and eat with the others,” he said, quietly.

Mark grabbed his arm as he walked past but his eyes remained on the floor.

“If you breathe a word about this to anyone, I will see that you don’t make it to Montefiore.”

Sebastian just pulled his arm away, pushing past Jenson as the cook came back into small room. Mark didn’t say anything to the cook, taking his own food with him before leaving.


	9. Making Up

 

Unsurprisingly, Dan was up before Jev was. The Frenchman had gone back to bed after supper in the hope of getting a few more hours sleep, but he hadn’t heard his friend come back into the bunk room. Maybe he hadn’t. The crew member that had been keeping Dan company whilst they waited for Jev to show up disappeared as soon as he spotted Jev. Dan wasn’t sure if the privacy was a good thing or not.

They’d gotten nowhere at supper, arguing over nothing and everything. Jev’s pretty sure Dan wouldn’t have spoken to him then, either, if Jev hadn’t sat himself down beside him and refused to leave him alone.

“How is Felipinho?” Jev asked, coming over to where Dan was sit, the game of cards abandoned in front of him.

“Fine,” Dan said, shortly, not looking up from the table when Jev sat opposite him. When the Frenchman tried to take his hand, he pulled away, gulping down air whilst he tried, again, to remember how to breathe.

“Dan,” Jev said, gently, trying to take Dan’s hand again, but it wasn’t working. “Dan, just _look at me_.”

The Australian looked up, tears in his eyes again, and Jev hadn’t seen him cry as much as he had since they found the child in the entire rest of the time he’d known him. It wasn’t good. But he had Dan looking at him now, and Jev smiled, trying his best to bring Dan back to normal, but it didn’t seem to be working.

“I was trying to protect you,” he said.

“By lying to me?” Dan asked. If he said any more he’d choke on his words and he didn’t want Jev to know he’d broken him so easily.

“Yes,” Jev said, gently, reaching for Dan’s hand again but again Dan pulled it out of reach. “I’m sorry.”

“For lying to me?”

“For letting you find out,” Jev said.

Dan stared at him, not sure what to say next. His mouth was open, his bottom lip shaking as he struggled for some kind of reply. He looked away before one could come to him, wiping his eyes.

“I didn’t want you to get hurt.”

“You thought Felipinho was going to die, and that not telling me was going to stop me from being hurt?” Dan asked. “What? Were you just going to dump the body in the sea? Hope I wasn’t going to notice he was missing? Some beautiful mermaids came and took him in the night, promising to take him home?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know,” Jev cried. “I don’t know. I just knew… I hurt, ok? I was just… so hurt. I thought he was going to die and I should not have been sad by this but I was. He is like our little boy, Daniel, and I thought we had lost him. It hurt so much. And if there was anything I could do so that you did not have to feel that then I would have done it. Did not think I could stop you from feeling like that, but I could prevent it, so I did.”

When he reached over to hold Dan’s hand again, the Australian did not flinch away. Jev sandwiched the hand between two of his own, rubbing circles onto the back with his thumb.

“I am sorry it had to happen,” he whispered.

“We could have lost him and I would never have been able to say goodbye,” Dan muttered, watching Jev’s hands. He wanted to pull away but couldn’t find the energy or the strength to do so. He wouldn’t let himself look up at Jev. Dan wondered how someone so scared that there was a sea monster lurking around every corner could spend so much time looking in the mirror.

“I’m sorry,” Jev said.

“But you’re not,” Dan said. “Tell me you wouldn’t do the same if it happened again. You would. I know you would.

Jev didn’t reply. _Couldn’t_ reply. They both knew he would.

Jev took a deep breath, not even struggling when Dan tried to take his hand back from him. The Australian stood, trying to find something to do to occupy the time. There was little wind and the ship was practically stationary. The only reason there had to be someone out at night was to make sure they didn’t hit anything or fall under attack, but they were alone. Dan didn’t like it.

“Dan?”

“Just don’t mate,” Dan said, turning his back to Jev. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Jev stood by the table, watching Dan wander about with no direction. He’d come around eventually. Maybe. Jev had lost count of the number of times they’d had silly little spat over stupid things that didn’t matter, but he’d never seen Dan like this. He’d only ever seen Dan hurt a hand full of times, and it had never been his fault. Now, though…

“Dan?”

“If you don’t want to be here, Jev, you should just go.”

“I _do_ want to be here,” Jev said. He was not going to have this argument again. “I want to be wherever you are. Because wherever you are is home.”

Dan just tutted and shook his head. He wanted to believe him, but something was stopping him.

Once Dan had stopped moving, settling to lean against the railing on the other side of the ship, Jev followed him, sliding his arms around the Australian’s waist and waiting for Dan to react. For a long time, he didn’t move at all, then Dan sighed, pulling away from Jev.

“It all worked out in the end, though, didn’t it?” Jev asked, quietly.

“No thank s to you,” Dan mumbled.

“If Sebastian had not opened his big mouth, you would never have found out,” Jev said. “We would have been able to go happily and pretend nothing had happened. Felipinho got better. Sebastian obviously does not know what he is talking about, just trying to hurt us.”

Dan didn’t say anything for a little while, his eyes closed whilst he tried to come up with an answer.

“Why would Sebastian be trying to hurt us?” he said, eventually, missing the issue completely because he didn’t know how to deal with it.

“Because he is a dick?” Jev suggested. “I don’t know. All I know is I did what I did to keep you happy. All I want is for you to be happy, Dan.”

He’d do anything to keep Dan happy and if the Australian didn’t know that by now then he never would. Wasn’t that why Jev was here in the first place? Wasn’t that why he hadn’t told the captain about Felipinho?

“But…” It made sense in Dan’s head, but he was still upset. He wanted an explanation as to why he was still upset. He shook his head, trying to figure out what was still upsetting him. “You lied to me,” he said again, settling on that as the issue.

“I’m sorry,” Jev said, giving up the argument that he’d been protecting him, because clearly that wasn’t working at the moment.

“How am I supposed to trust you again?”

“Because you _know_ me, Dan,” Jev said, gently. He shook his head, taking hold of Dan’s hand again. Dan didn’t pull away. “You know me better than I even know myself. And you know you can trust me. Because I will never hurt you.”

Dan opened his mouth to reply, even though he had no idea what he was going to say, but he was saved from speaking by a crash across the deck. They both looked up, the ship lit only by the moonlight and a few lanterns that had been placed strategically so they could hardly see anything unless they were playing cards at the table.

Jev instantly pushed Dan behind him, searching the deck for the source of the noise.

“Ow.”

A bundle of blankets shifted from the doorway that led down to the hold after having apparently walked into the wall.

“Felipinho?” Dan asked, pushing past Jev to hurry over to the child.

“Dan? Why are you awake? It’s night time.”

“Never mind why I’m awake,” Dan said, picking up the bundle of blankets. “What are you doing up?”

Jev watched from across the deck as Dan sat with the child, calming him down after what appeared to be a nightmare. Jev had noticed before how good his friend was, but it always managed to surprise him for some reason. Dan was barely an adult himself, but seeing him with Felipinho… it was a completely different Dan and, though Jev was never _not_ proud of Dan, he was immensely proud of this Dan, this Dan who kissed Felipinho’s forehead where it hit the wall and told him stories about the monsters that left the child giggling. This Dan, he could see having with him for the rest of his life.

If he forgave him.

“I’m just going to take him back to bed,” Dan said, standing with a half-asleep five year old in his arms.

“Alright,” Jev said. That wasn’t what he was supposed to say. He was supposed to have figured out a way to make it up to Dan. But ‘alright’ would have to do for now as he disappeared back into the hold.

Jev peered into the dark water as he waited for Dan to return. The ship was only moving slowly, the wind still not having picked up, and the water below could barely be seen in the dark. It was all black.

When they had first set out on this so called adventure, other pirates had been Jev’s biggest worry. That was closely followed by sea creatures who would rise to the surface of the water and try to convince him to sell his souls. So far, the only other pirates they had encountered had been their own ship mates, or men in the ports accessing services they wouldn’t be able to access at sea. Sea creatures had been, so far, non-existent, possibly with the exception of the child.

There were worse things than pirates, he’d learned. Worse things than sea creatures.

“I think he’s had a pretty long day,” Dan said, returning from the hold.

“I cannot lose you,” Jev said, quickly, spinning back around to face his friend. He shook his head, swallowing again. “I will not lose you.”

Dan’s face fell.

“I love you,” Jev continued. He had no idea what he was doing, unable to control the words that were coming out of his mouth. “Daniel Ricciardo, I love you. And I cannot lose you. Right now, I cannot think of anything worse that could possibly happen. I was scared when you decided you wanted to go off on this adventure and then I decided I needed to come too. Because the people on board this ship are not _nice_ people. They are not the people we are used to dealing with every day. And whatever lurks down there is not something we are used to dealing with every day. And I was scared and I am still scared about what will happen if some kraken were to rise out of the sea and swallow us whole, but I’m more scared of losing you.”

It wasn’t until he finished speaking that Jev realised his eyes were closed. When he opened them, he found Dan staring at him as if he were mad and Jev couldn’t be certain that wasn’t true. Neither of them said anything for a long time, the gentle waves crashing against the ship and the creaking as the ship rocked the only sound.

Jev felt sicker than when he’d first told Dan how he felt, and he was sure that had nothing to do with the rocking of the ship. He shivered, waiting for a reply that didn’t seem like it was going to come.

“Are you going to say anything?” Jev asked, uncertainly.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “Yeah, I’m just thinking.”

Jev huffed a laugh, a little bit of the tension seeping away.

“You’re not going to lose me,” Dan said, quietly. “I’m sorry for over reacting.”

“For…”

“You were trying to protect me, weren’t you?”

Jev nodded, not quite able to believe it was going to be this simple.

Dan just shrugged, his usual smile back.

“Then it’s not worth falling out over,” he reasoned. “I don’t want to lose you either.”

“That isn’t going to happen,” Jev promised.

“Right then,” Dan said, shuffling his feet awkwardly. “Let’s stop talking about that now then.”

Jev smiled. “Good idea. Cards?”

“I think I can think of something better to do.”


	10. Attack

Life on board started to change as soon as Felipinho was no longer a secret. Things almost got back to normal for the child. Once he’d decided he didn’t need to stay in the hold if everyone knew about him, he started to venture out in the day time to see what the crew were up to.

Felipinho had seen a ship’s crew in action plenty of times, having spent most of his short life so far on one ship or another. He knew what most of the people’s jobs were, having sat talking to the sailors when the traders had still been in charge of the ship. The only difference now was that nobody was wearing very smart clothes like they had been when his Papa and his friends were there.

At first, most people didn’t want to talk to him. Felipinho didn’t know where Dan and Jev were, so he tried talking to the others to try to make friends with some of the other grown ups. He was ignored a lot by most of the people to begin with, some saying hello but the majority of them pretending he wasn’t even there. Felipinho’s first idea was to ignore them back, but then he decided it would annoy them a lot more if he didn’t stop talking to them and that seemed like more fun to him.

Eventually, they talked back.

“He’s getting on quite well,” Sebastian said to Dan one supper, watching Felipinho sat with his own little bowl, talking to Daniil about his favourite food.

“Hmmm,” Dan said, unconvinced. He didn’t know why, but he wasn’t sure he really liked it. He’d enjoyed it just being him, Felipinho, and Jev. The three of them. A little family, no matter what Jev would try to convince people.

Felipinho had been out of the hold for a couple of weeks now, though Webber still refused to give him anywhere else to sleep, and was getting on well with almost everyone on the ship. It shouldn’t have upset Dan as much as it did, but it did.

“Have you spoken to the captain about getting him into an actual bed again?” Dan asked, trying to distract himself.

“I don’t think Mark is really going to change his mind at the moment,” Sebastian said. He hadn’t spoken to the Captain since the day Felipinho had been found and he had no intention of doing so anytime soon. A little part of his mind was telling him he was being petty, but he had more reason to not forgive Mark for what he’d done than he did to forgive him.

Dan shook his head, mumbling something about having some decency. Sebastian, if he had been bothered enough, would have pointed out they were pirates, and that decency wasn’t really in their nature.

“Dan!” Felipinho cried, bouncing back over to Dan with a surprisingly empty bowl. The food wasn’t great, even by their usual standards, but he’d eaten it all and didn’t seem to be complaining about it. Things were definitely getting better. “Dan I’m tired.”

“It’s probably all the jumping about you’ve been doing,” Dan teased, pulling the child onto his lap.

“Have not been jumping,” Felipinho said, yawning and rubbing his eyes with mucky hands. “Want to go to bed.”

“Alright,” Dan said, standing and lifting Felipinho up with him. His own supper would have to wait a little while.

They had been able to smuggle down some more blankets for Felipinho, at least, some of the other sailors giving up the small pieces of comfort, and he’d made himself a cosy little nest with them and the sacks of flour that were, hopefully, never going to be used. Dan sat the child down in his nest, trying not to yawn when he yawned.

“Right then,” Dan said, tucking the blankets around Felipinho. “I’ll see you in the morning, alright. Good night.”

“Wait,” Felipinho said as Dan stood. “Want you to tell me a story.”

“What?”

He’d never asked for a story before. This was probably Daniil and Jenson putting ideas in his head. Dan made a mental not to get them back for this as soon as he could.

“Want you to tell me a story,” Felipinho said again, wriggling down deeper into the blankets.

“We don’t have any stories,” Dan said, hoping that would settle him.

“Make one up,” Felipinho suggested. Apparently not.

Dan huffed and sat down beside Felipinho. “Make one up,” he muttered, his mind suddenly going blank. “I can’t think of anything.”

“Please,” Felipinho winged.

“Fine,” Dan said, trying to remember the stories his mother had told him when he was Felipinho’s age. “How about a love story.”

“Love stories are for girls,” Felipinho said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

“It’s that or nothing,” Dan said. “There’s some fighting in it too, I promise.”

“Alright then,” Felipinho said, unimpressed. It was going to have to do.

 

“Where’s Dan?” Jev asked, emerging from the bunk room. He’d eaten early and gone back to sleep, having the night watch again later on.

“Took the kid to bed,” Sebastian said, finishing his own food and turning happily to Dan’s. “Been down there a while.”

“He’s always down there a while,” Jev said, taking the food away from Sebastian before he could steal it.

Sebastian rolled his eyes, then stopped, something in the distance catching his eye. “What’s that?”

Jev spun around to see what Sebastian was looking at. There were other people peering into the distance too. The disappearing light didn’t help with identifying whatever it was, but there was very clearly something heading in their direction.

“It’s another ship,” Jev said, getting at tut from Sebastian for stating the obvious.

Somewhere behind them, Jev could hear them discussing who would be the one to go off to inform the captain and find out what course of action they should take. It wasn’t a desired job.

“Pirates,” someone called down from the crow’s nest and Jev took a deep breath. Things had been quiet for far too long. He should have expected something like this to happen. There was still a chance they would pass calmly by each other. Unlikely, but there was a chance.

Jev spun around, trying to find the captain to see what he was thinking. Webber would never back down from a fight if there was one offered, but he wouldn’t start a fight unless there was something to loot, and that couldn’t be guaranteed on a pirate ship.

Everyone on deck was leaning over the edge of the ship now, trying to get a good look at the oncoming vessel. Webber pushed his way through the line of men to get a better look, calling up to the unfortunate person in the crow’s nest for more information.

“Think they’re attacking sir,” he called down.

The ship was getting closer and they were going to need to know what was going on _right now_ if they were going to form any kind of defence.

“’Think’ isn’t good enough,” Webber yelled back.

Jev pushed himself away from the line of sailors, sick rising in his throat. He wasn’t made for fighting and he was pretty sure that if Dan had known there would be this much fighting when he decided to go off on this little “adventure”, he wouldn’t have agreed to come either. There would be no getting out of this though.

“They’re preparing to attack, sir.”

“Then what are you hanging around for. We’ve a fight to win.”

 

“And then the mean old fox told the tiger and the mouse that-.”

Dan’s story, which had quickly spiralled into nonsense, was cut short by an explosion that made the entire ship shake. Dan rolled his eyes and sighed. It seemed like they couldn’t last five minutes without him some days. Felipinho, who had almost been asleep, was now wide awake, grabbing hold of Dan’s hand to stop him getting up to investigate.

“Felipinho?”

“Don’t,” Felipinho said, his eyes wide but his voice smaller than ever.

“Felipinho, it’s alright,” Dan said, gently, laughing a little at how scared the child had suddenly become.

There was another bang and the ship shook again. If he listened closely, Dan could hear shouting and he tried to stand again.

“Dan don’t,” Felipinho begged. “You’re going to leave me like Papa did. Please don’t go. I don’t want you to go.”

Dan froze, letting Felipinho pull him back down to the floor with shaking hands.

“It’s not going to be like last time,” Dan promised, laughing gently as he wiped Felipinho’s eyes where tears had begun to form. For some reason he hadn’t realised Felipinho would still be worried about that, though he couldn’t think why he’d never thought about it. “It’ll be nothing. Probably somebody throwing a tantrum about their food. Don’t worry.”

He didn’t believe that and he couldn’t tell if Felipinho believed that either but if it settled him down…

Felipinho didn’t let go of Dan’s hand, holding it tighter than ever.

“Please don’t,” he whispered.

“I have to,” Dan said, wrapping the blankets around Felipinho again. “I will be back in five minutes, alright. I won’t be long.”

He smiled down at him, hoping that would settle him a little more, before going to find out what was really going on.

There was chaos on the deck by the time Dan emerged from the hold. They were on a cargo ship and, though it did have a few canons to protect itself from pirates (which it had promptly failed to do once already), it wasn’t that good a defence, and the crew of the oncoming ship had soon boarded.

Dan watched the fighting for a couple of seconds, rooted to the spot, trying to decide whether it was worth going back down into the hold and hoping the mess could be resolved without him. He wouldn’t be much help anyway, most likely doing more harm than good with his clumsiness, but the need to make sure Jev was ok defeated the “stay safe” option.

“Jev!” Dan called, ducking and weaving his way through the fighting and he was going to get in so much trouble if they got out of the and he hadn’t been fighting but he didn’t care. So far he’d managed to get out of as much fighting as possible, having already shown that he was not a valuable member of any attack force when they’d looted ships before. Even though he’d had to learn to stand up for himself as a kid, he’d never been very good at it, and he didn’t really trust himself with a cutlass.

“Jev!”

“Dan?”

Jev had been hoping he would have the sense to stay in the hold with Felipinho. Not that it would do much good if the ship was taken, but there was still a chance they could win the fight.

He spotted his friend stumbling about between fists and cutlasses and so far managing to not get caught in any of the fights. So far. Dan spun around at the sound of his name and something hit him in the face and he fell to the floor with a thud, clutching his nose.

“Dan?” Jev called, leaving the ship mate he had been defending to go and make sure Dan was ok. There was already one of the invading sailors leaning over his friend and Jev pushed them away with an elbow to the stomach and a wave of his cutlass in that general direction, almost as bad at fighting as Dan was. The Australian had already blacked out by the time Jev was knelt down beside him and at least that gave him an excuse to get out of the fighting, Jev reasoned.

He lifted his friend slowly, carefully. There was blood coming out of his nose and Jev dabbed it gently with an old handkerchief, lifting Dan so the Australian was leaning on his shoulder. When he looked around, though, Jev found himself looking down the barrel of a gun.

“I don’t think you’re going anywhere.”


	11. Captured

Dan woke with a head ache ripping through his forehead and dried blood on his lips. He kept his eyes shut, trying to figure out why he was lying on hard wood and not the somewhat softer blankets of his bunk. He was still on the ship – or _a_ ship. He could feel the rocking even with his eyes shut. There was muttering somewhere nearby, but Dan couldn’t hear what they were saying. He curled up a little, groaning at the pain in his head, and the muttering stopped.

“Dan?”

Jev. Dan could feel, still keeping his eyes screwed up, a hand on his forehead and he uncurled himself a little.

“What happened?” he mumbled, unable to remember why his head hurt so much or why there was blood in his mouth.

“The ship was captured,” Jev said, quietly. “It’s ok, though. I’m here. You are safe.”

Someone snorted at the last sentence.

Dan frowned, opening his eyes as slowly as possible, but the gloomy light of wherever they were being held did nothing to his head ache. Most of the crew were crammed into the small room, only a few of them not paying him any attention.

“Where’s Felipinho?” Dan asked after flicking through the faces of the men in the room and coming to the conclusion that Felipinho wasn’t there with them. He’d promised the child five minutes and it had definitely been longer than five minutes.

“We don’t know,” Jev said. “But it’s ok. Calm down. I am sure he is ok. Webber is not here either. He is probably with him.”

“Oh that fills me with confidence,” Dan said, grimacing as he sat up. That _did_ do something to the pain in his head, and it wasn’t something good. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Please don’t,” Sebastian said from the other side of the room. “Smells enough down here without that as well.”

“It’s ok,” Jev said again, ignoring the doctor. “Webber will be with him. He’ll look after him.”

Dan looked over his fellow ship mates that were in the room, talking amongst themselves again with little hope of getting out of this mess any time soon, registering that Webber wasn’t one of them.

“Who was it, do we know?” Dan asked. He didn’t know what good having all the information would do when he couldn’t really do anything about it, but he wanted to know.

“We don’t know,” Jev said.

“Captain seemed to know well enough,” Daniil muttered, darkly.

“What are you trying to say?” Jenson asked.

Daniil rolled his eyes. “That the captain knew one of them, didn’t he?”

“This is not helping,” Jev said, glaring at their ship mates.

“We need to get out of here,” Dan said, trying to stand but when he was stood everything started to spin and he was pretty sure that wasn’t a good thing.

“Calm down,” Jev said, gently, easing Dan back down to the floor. “Webber will sort this out and get us all out. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Dan nodded, ignoring the fact that this was blatantly lies, and closed his eyes again, trying to stop everything from spinning.

“Sebastian?” Jev called. He was pretty sure Dan shouldn’t be like this. He knew the hit to the head he’d taken was hard, but not this hard.

“Let me see,” Sebastian said, coming over. “Dan? Dan open your eyes for me, mate?”

Daniil tutted, along with a few other members of the crew, as Jev and Sebastian fussed over Dan. They’d already had all this fuss when they were taken down here, Dan unconscious.

“What is wrong with him?” Jev asked.

“I’m not sure,” Sebastian said. “Dan, I need you to open your eyes. Don’t go back to sleep.”

 

He was so close. Another couple of months and they would have been at Port Elizabeth and he could leave this life behind. Just another couple of months and this would all be over.

Now Mark was sat opposite a man from another life aboard a ship that was not his. Captured, technically. He didn’t want to think about that. This man was an old friend, wasn’t he? They would be able to get along, wouldn’t they?

“Are you not going to have something to eat?”

“Not hungry, mate,” Mark said, leaning back in his chair.

They weren’t alone in the room, watched by one of the crew in case Mark got any ideas about doing anything stupid. He knew better than that.

“More for me then.”

“More for you.”

They sat in silence a while longer whilst Mark watched his captor – no. He was _not_ going to think like that. Whilst Mark watched his old friend eat. The Australian was determined to not show how nervous it was making him. He had an image to play up to.

“Did not think I would be seeing you again,” his friend said when he finally finished eating. “Was a pleasant surprise.”

“I’m sure it was, Alonso,” Mark said.

The Spaniard looked across the table at him with dark eyes and Mark smirked, unintimidated. There was one way he was going to get himself and his crew out of this and it was not going to be by acting like a chicken.

“You have gotten yourself back on your feet, I see,” Alonso said. “Or you _had_.”

“I’m doing pretty well, mate, yeah,” Mark said, swinging back on his chair.

“You _were_ ,” Alonso said. “Not any longer, without a ship.”

The ship had sunk. Or was still sinking. Whatever it was, it was lost, and there was no chance of getting it back. Alonso’s crew had rescued what they could from the hold and brought it aboard. Everything else was gone.

“I don’t think that will be much of a problem for long,” Mark said.

“You do not?”

“Nope,” Mark said, the smirk still on his face. “I’ve bounced back before, haven’t I?”

“You will not get the chance to do it again,” Alonso said.

Mark said nothing, not letting his smile fall. Alonso knew exactly what he was capable of, or what he _had_ been capable of. It was a long time since Mark had found himself in any kind of struggle and it was possible he had lost his touch since then. But Alonso did not need to know that.

The Spaniard watched him carefully, waiting to see who would break first, then turned to the guard who stood behind him and said something to him in Spanish. Mark just rolled his eyes, sure there was no need for the theatrics.

“Heard you are starting a family,” Alonso said before swigging from the bottle in his hand.

Mark shrugged. He couldn’t be sure where Alonso had heard it from, but there was no use in confirming it. “Rumours always fly.”

“They say you got a woman pregnant,” Alonso said before huffing a laugh. “They say all sorts of things. You must be careful, or otherwise you will become some kind of legend.”

“Nothing wrong with that, mate,” Mark said. “Better to be a legend than unknown.”

Alonso’s hand stopped, the bottle halfway to his lips. He glared at Mark, trying to come up with a comeback. It was still a sore point for the pirate then, Mark noted.

Alonso was saved from further embarrassment by the guard returning, a struggling five year old in his grip.

“You have been practicing?” Alonso asked.

Felipinho glared up at the guard when he was let go and how the kid still had that kind of attitude, Mark didn’t know. He’d been saved then, obviously. Mark hadn’t seen the child be brought aboard and assumed the worse. It would have lost a lot of money, but it hadn’t been his biggest priority at the time.

“Or is it a stow away?” Alonso asked. “I think I should know his background, as he is now my property.”

“Your property?”

“You are all my property,” Alonso pointed out. “Or why else would I not have let your crew drown on the ship?”

“A bit harsh, mate,” Mark said. “Keeping the crew as crew, makes sense I suppose. But they ain’t property. They’re people.”

Alonso shrugged. “Sometimes you have to be harsh, no? So the child?”

Mark shook his head gently. He didn’t know what had happened to his friend in the years since they had last met, but it didn’t sound like it had done him any good.

“He’s not a stow away,” Mark said. “He belongs to one of the crew.”

“Belongs?” Alonso asked.

“He’s the son of one of the crew,” Mark said. Alonso didn’t need to know the truth. If Mark could somehow get the kid to Montefiore, he could claim the reward and get out of this mess.

“And you let him aboard the ship?” Alonso asked, sceptically.

Mark shrugged. “It was either that or he went to the work house. I’m not heartless.”

“That is debatable,” Alonso muttered, darkly.

“You’re not still sore about that, are you?” Mark snorted. “I think you should get over yourself, mate.”

“Whose son is he?” Alonso asked, brushing away the comment.

“Does it matter?” Mark asked. “He’s not mine, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Know this,” Alonso said. He looked down at Felipinho again, then spoke to the guard in Spanish again. He nodded and, taking the child with him, disappeared. “If you are lying to me, Webber…”

“What other explanation would you expect?” Mark asked, actually interested to hear what other scenarios his old friend could imagine.

Alonso shrugged, taking another, longer swig from his bottle. Mark huffed, pretty sure he was doing the whole thing for effect. He wouldn’t be surprised if the Spaniard left them all at the next point and was only doing all this to prove he could. It really was a little tiring.

“Is there anything else?” Mark asked.

“Am just trying to figure out what I should have you do first,” Alonso said, setting the bottle down.

“I’m not doing anything, mate,” Mark said.

“We will see,” Alonso said. “Maybe you will find that you do not have much choice.”

Mark shrugged. “You can do a lot without much choice,” he said. “Or I can, anyway.”

For a second, annoyance flashed across the Spaniard’s face, but it was gone as suddenly as it arrived. Instead, he smiled. “Maybe you will find that you want to do some of the things.”

“I am not doing anything for you,” Mark said.

Alonso’s smirk just grew. “We will see.”

 

“You are going to need to give him some space,” Sebastian said when people started to crowd around Dan.

“What is wrong with him?” Jev asked again, glaring at Daniil when he made yet another unimpressed noise.

“I don’t…” Sebastian shrugged. “I can’t say.”

“He is going to be ok, though,” Jev said.

“Probably,” Sebastian said, knowing that wasn’t going to be enough for the Frenchman, but it was as good as he could give at the moment.

“Probably?”

Before the doctor could answer, the door opened and everyone looked up. The man who had opened the door held onto Felipinho’s wrist tightly. Jev sighed in relief, silently thanking whoever was watching over him.

“Whose is he?” the guard asked, his accent obscuring his words a little.

Nobody said anything for a little while, looking between one another to see who would answer first.

“Who does he belong to?” the guard asked again.

“Me,” Jev said, before anybody else had time to answer. He stood from where he was crouched beside Dan, holding out his hand for Felipinho. “Please.”

The guard looked between Felipinho and Jev, clearly not believing the Frenchman, but Jev was insistent, holding out his hand for the child.

“Please.”

Nobody else said anything, waiting to see what would happen.

The guard shoved Felipinho towards Jev and, without saying another word, left. Jev stared after him for a couple of seconds, then dropped down to Felipinho’s height, checking to make sure he was ok.

“They did not hurt you?” he asked, his hands trembling as they ran through the child’s hair. He’d been scared the child had been left in the hold the entire time. It had happened when _they_ had taken the ship, hadn’t it, and he had lasted long enough without being noticed. There was a very large chance that he could have been left on the ship whilst it sank and… No, there was no time for thoughts like that. “You are ok?”

“What happened to Dan? Is he alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, he will be fine,” Sebastian said. “He is just very tired.”

“You look tired too,” Jev said, sitting on the floor beside Dan and Felipinho. “I think it’s time you went to sleep.”

“We don’t have any blankets,” Felipinho said, quietly.

“Oh, let’s not start this again,” Jev said, smiling weakly. He pulled the child onto his lap. “Come and sleep here. I’ll keep you warm.”


	12. Decisions

“Do you want to see them?” Alonso asked, watching Mark for his reaction. The Australian’s face was blank, though.

“How many were lost?” Mark asked.

Alonso thought for a moment, rolling his head from side to side. He’d left Mark alone for a little while with some of the larger members of his crew. Even knocked about a little, Mark still looked as smug as ever, which had not pleased Alonso.

“A few,” Alonso said. “Not many. Is not such a good idea to lose stock so carelessly.”

 _Not many._ But some. These were the people he’s spent the last however long with. And some were lost? Some were gone.

“So what’s the plan, Nando?” Mark asked, wiping some blood from his chin and trying to hide the emotion on his face. “Sell my crew.”

“Are not your crew anymore,” Alonso said.

“They’re not my crew right now,” Mark corrected him. “Are you planning on selling them?”

“Have not decided yet,” Alonso said. “And you have not answered the question. Do you want to see them?”

See them? Find out which ones were ‘lost’?

“Do you not want to see them, Webber?” Alonso asked. “Maybe you should want to be with them? Is maybe where you belonged.”

“If you wanted me there, I would already be there, mate,” Mark said, sure of this. Alonso knew what he was doing, no matter what he said.

“Is not what I am asking,” Alonso said. “Do you want to be with them?”

“What do you want me to say?” Mark asked.

“Do you care for them?” Alonso asked.

“They’re my crew, of course I care for them,” Mark said, but he knew it was over. Alonso had seen something he was interested in and he was going to pick at it. Mark could deal with that though. He’d dealt with Alonso whilst he had more over him than this.

“Which one?” Alonso asked.

“Huh?”

“You are… _involved_ with one of them,” Alonso guessed, correctly. “Which one?”

“I’m starting a family with some whore _and_ “involved” with one of the crew?” Mark asked. “ _And_ I’m heartless. Wow, mate, you want to make up your mind.”

“I know I am right,” Alonso said. “So which one? The boy’s father.”

“There is nobody, Fernando,” Mark said, seriously. He wiped his nose on the back of his hand, blood streaking through the dirt, and looked up at his old friend. “There’s never been anybody, Fernando.”

He wouldn’t let himself think of Sebastian. Not that long ago, he would have been telling the truth if he said that. Once again, the timing was all wrong.

“Do not believe you,” Alonso said.

“Fine,” Mark said. “Believe what you want, Alonso. It’s not going to change the facts. They’re my crew. My friends. That’s it.”

“Maybe I will make you choose.” Alonso said, bringing the bottle – a new bottle – back to his lips. He kicked his feet up onto the table, but lost his balance. He tried to cover it by swinging back and falling back down so the chair was on all four legs.

“Choose?” Mark asked.

“Maybe there is not enough food and water on the ship for all “your” men,” Alonso said. “Maybe I make you chose which ones you would want me to keep.”

Mark peered at him. At first he didn’t believe the threat. He knew Alonso was full of empty threats. But this was different.

“You’re not serious,” Mark said. “How is that looking after your stock?”

“Of course I am,” Fernando said. “There is not enough food and water on the ship. There were a lot of people we saved. It is better we let a couple go now then they all starve to death, no?”

“I suppose you don’t mean dropping them off at the nearest port,” Mark said, darkly. He shook his head at the way Alonso smirked. This wasn’t the person Mark had left all those years ago. “What happened to you, Fernando?”

“This is the way some things are, no?” Alonso said.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Mark said. “You never needed to be.”

No matter how much he tried to keep his voice steady, he couldn’t help how his voice raised when he spoke. This wasn’t his friend.

“It is the way some things are,” Alonso said again, his eyes narrowing. He knew how close to breaking Mark was. “Five.”

“Five what?”

“Is what we can keep,” Alonso said. “And I want to know who you want me to keep alive.”

“So you can throw them over board first?” Mark asked.

“Maybe,” Alonso said. “Five names.”

 

Dan woke to silence, his head fuzzy but without pain. That, at least, was a good thing. He was still on the floor, he noticed, and, though his memories were about as fuzzy as his head, he knew what was going on. The attack, the capture… Slowly, Dan opened his eyes again, only to find the lamp that illuminated the small room they were being kept in flickering dimly. His ship mates lay around the room, having given in to sleep a while ago.

Dan shifted until he was sat up and peered around. He couldn’t see much in the dim light, but he recognised all the faces. There was nobody here from the invading ship. Maybe… well, there was a chance, wasn’t there?

When he tried the door, Dan found it locked. Of course, there wasn’t much chance.

“Dan?”

Dan nearly jumped out of his skin, falling back into the door.

“Dan?” Jev hissed. “Are you alright?”

He would be up and over to help Dan, but Felipinho was still asleep on his lap and Jev’s legs had gone numb whilst he was sleeping.

“I’m fine,” Dan said, coming over. “You just gave me a shock.”

“You cannot speak,” Jev laughed, sleepily. “We thought you were ill.”

“Huh?”

“You were ill,” Jev said, shifting Felipinho off of him so that he could come over to Dan, but Dan hurried back over to him so he could keep the sleeping child on his lap. “Dan, we could not get you to wake up.”

“I’m fine,” Dan promised, crossing the small room again to sit beside Jev.

“You should speak to Sebastian,” Jev suggested, shifting again to try to get rid of the pins and needles. “You weren’t well. We could not wake you up.”

“I am _fine_ ,” Dan insisted, gently. He glanced around the room but, even with everyone asleep, he knew better than to risk a kiss, so he just grinned at Jev, hoping that would convince the Frenchman he was as happy as ever. “How’s this one?” he asked, nodding toward Felipinho and hoping to change the conversation.

“He’s fine,” Jev lied. It had taken him ages to get Felipinho to go to sleep, even in his lap. Jev didn’t blame him. After everything that had happened, he would have been surprised if Felipinho had just fallen asleep. “He was worried about you, though.”

“I’m fine, Jev,” Dan said, leaning closer. “Look at me. Do I look ill?”

“You did.”

Dan rolled his eyes but the door on the other side of the room opened before he could say anything. He jumped up, readying himself to make a run for it, but the number of people that were lurking outside made it clear that an escape wasn’t very likely.

“Aw, wake up boys,” Alonso called whilst some of his men shook Dan’s ship mate’s awake. “Come along. Wake up.”

Mark watched Sebastian whilst trying to not watch Sebastian, all the colour having drained from his face since he came down to where his crew was being kept. Sebastian was safe, though. He went through the other men that were waking up, trying to stop himself from shaking.

“Come on then, Webber,” Alonso said, patting him on the back. “Five names.”

“I’m not doing it,” Mark said, looking at the floor so he didn’t have to look at anyone. Even if he knew Alonso would save the people he listed, he didn’t want to be the one to decide who would be killed.

“Captain?” Daniil asked, sleepily, peering up at the men who had come into the room.

“Not anymore,” Alonso said. “Names, Webber.”

Mark didn’t say anything, unable to stop himself looking round at his crew. They were all beginning to wake up, looking up at him and trying to figure out what was going on.

“Names?” Dan, the only one awake enough, asked. “What names?”

“I want five names,” Alonso said. “And your _captain_ would not give me them. Maybe he needs to jog his memory. Webber.”

“I’m not doing it mate,” Mark said, crossing his arms, but all his cockiness from up in Alonso’s cabin was gone now.

Sebastian looked up from the floor, struggling to stand with the pins and needles in his legs.

“Do it, or they all go,” Alonso said.

Mark looked around the room again. As everyone woke, they stood, and muttering began to rush through the men until Alonso glared at them and they all fell silent again.

“You can’t do that,” Dan said. Jev shifted, moving Felipinho onto his hip when he tried to stand up. Maybe Dan was finally beginning to see sense, but it was a little late for that now. “You can’t.”

“I can do what I like,” Alonso said. “Webber, now.”

“You can’t kill the child,” Mark said. He felt like that was safe. And he needed the child to claim the reward and get them out of this. Nobody would blame him for this.

“The child?” Alonso asked. “So this would be the father too, no? Is already two names. You have three left.”

“I’m not doing this, Fernando,” Mark said again.

“You have already started now,” Alonso pointed out. “Only three left. It should not be too difficult, for someone like you.”

“Someone like him?” Daniil asked, quietly, but nobody listened to him.

“Sebastian’s the ship doctor,” Mark said, eventually, not daring to look at the German. Being the doctor seemed like a good idea to keep him to Mark and he just hoped Alonso still had enough sense to see that.

“We already have a doctor,” Alonso said.

“Yes, but you would get more money for a skilled worker, wouldn’t you?” Mark said, hoping he understood what was going on in Alonso’s head.

“Maybe,” Alonso said, thoughtfully. “Sebastian?”

“Yes?” Sebastian said, standing with wobbling legs. The look on Mark’s face didn’t settle him. He didn’t know what the captain was playing at and he wasn’t entirely sure he knew him at all anymore.

Alonso looked Sebastian up and down. Of all the men in the room, the doctor was not one that Alonso would have chosen. He didn’t trust what Mark said about getting more money. He was convinced one of these were the person that Mark was seeing. But Sebastian definitely wasn’t the one that Alonso suspected.

“Webber?” he prompted again, looking over the rest of the men and trying to figure out which one would be chosen next.

“I’m sorry,” Mark said, hoping everyone knew how serious he was. He’d find a way out of this. He probably didn’t have long to find a way out of this, but he would find one. “Jenson.”

“Jenson?” Alonso asked, his eyes flicking between the men until he spotted Jenson. He smirked. “So you did stay with Webber after all?”

“Clearly,” Jenson said, his face stone cold.

“See,” Daniil whispered to somebody beside him, receiving an elbow to the stomach in the hope that it would shut him up.

“Am surprised he did not name you sooner,” Alonso said, knowing Jenson wasn’t the one he was looking for. Maybe it was the doctor after all? Or the child’s father, but that didn’t sound like the Mark he had known either. “Another.”

“I am so sorry,” Mark said again. “I don’t want-.”

“Last name,” Alonso demanded.

“Kvyat,” Mark said, quietly. If he was going to plan an escape, Daniil would probably be more helpful than any of the others.

Mark refused to look at them in the silence that followed his announcement, but he could feel all eyes on him. They had to know it didn’t matter what he said, didn’t they? Alonso would choose who he wanted to keep and who he wanted to kill. It didn’t matter what he said.

“No,” Jev whispered, taking hold of Dan’s hand. “No, you can’t.”

“I think I can,” Alonso said, smirking. “And I think I will.”

“I’m not letting you,” Jev said. He still held Felipinho against his hip but took a step in front of Dan. He knew they should have left before now, but there was no point wasting time in hindsight.

“I do not think you have much of a choice,” Alonso said. “Unless you and the child would like to take somebody else’s place. I do not mind.”

“I’ll be ok,” Dan said, quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Felipinho asked. “Dan? Dan, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Dan promised. “I’ve just got to go away for a while, mate. But I’ll be back soon. You wait with Jev, yeah?”

He kissed the top of Felipinho’s head, trying to distract himself from the fact that he needed a plan now or he was going to die and there was nothing in his brain even remotely like a plan.

“Dan?” Jev asked, holding onto Dan’s hand tighter when one of Alonso’s men tried to pull him away.

“I’ll be ok,” Dan promised, letting his hand slide out of Jev’s and leaving him alone in the room with Daniil, Sebastian, and Jenson.


	13. Struggles

“So…” Dan said, slowly, stalling himself a little. He still hadn’t come up with a plan and he had a feeling he wasn’t going to come up with one any time soon. “You want us to jump.” He leaned over the edge of the ship and looked at the water below. In his head, he’d always imagined man eating sharks circling below, but there was nothing. Just the water.

“Dan, I’m sorry,” Webber said, but Dan wasn’t really listening, still trying to come up with a plan. There weren’t enough of them to place an attack and he didn’t think he was going to be able to talk his way out of this. Being a pirate was no fun anymore. Maybe Jev was right and they should have just stayed in the port with their boring little jobs and their boring little lives.

“Jump,” Alonso said, one of his men prodding Dan in the back. He was to go first, though Dan had no real idea why. It was probably Jev’s fault for standing up to them, though it could just as easily be his own fault.

Dan peered into the water again, but something moving in the distance caught his eye. There was something coming towards them, another ship maybe. It was still too far away to tell but traveling fast, the wind with it and their own ship anchored.

Dan wasn’t the only one to notice the ship. As soon as Alonso saw it he called for the anchor to be raised.

“Take them back below deck,” Alonso called, waving at the men waiting to be killed.

Dan backed away from the pirate coming towards him. Maybe going back down below deck with the others would allow them to come up with another plan, but maybe he could find a way to get the other ship to help them. Or maybe he could-

A wet patch on the deck sent him flying. Dan reached out to grab for something but there was nothing there and he tumbled off of the ship. Everyone froze for a couple of seconds.

“Now, do you want that, or do you want to go back below deck?” Alonso called.

 

Nobody had spoken since the others had been taken up onto the deck. Nobody really knew what to say. Felipinho was crying and Jev couldn’t make him stop. Jev couldn’t even make himself stop. He glanced over at the others, who seemed as ready to solve their problems as Jev was.

“You know him,” Daniil said, eventually, watching Jenson.

“I used to know him,” Jenson murmured, shivering as he spoke. He shook his head, not looking up from the floor. “It was a long time ago.”

“But you knew him,” Daniil said. “You can speak to him. Get us out of this.”

Jenson shook his head again. He glanced up at the others, then back to his feet. “If Webber couldn’t do anything, then there’s no chance I can.”

“Who is he?” Sebastian asked.

Jenson sighed and shook his head. Jev could see he didn’t want to answer the question, but the three of them wanted it answered.

“The captain and Alonso used to be friends,” Jenson began. He wasn’t looking at them, but could feel all eyes on him whilst they waited for him to continue. “The captain did something. I don’t know what so don’t ask. He did something that made Alonso not trust him. And Alonso wrecked him. Took everything from him. Webber had nothing, but he rebuilt. There was only a few of us, but he had a reputation and that got him most places Alonso couldn’t, even with all the money in the world. It only made him worse. Then the captain took what was his back from Alonso and we left in the night. I haven’t seen him since. I don’t doubt that Webber hasn’t either.”

“That is it?” Jev asked.

Jenson nodded. “Pretty much.”

“He has-.” Jev stopped before he could say anything else, glancing down at Felipinho. “He has done what he has done and it is all because Webber pissed him off years ago?”

“As far as I know,” Jenson said. “Alonso wasn’t like this. Not when we left him. Something’s wrong.”

“No shit,” Daniil muttered, but he’d become used to being ignored by now.

“Well, what are we going to do?” Jev asked.

“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked, sniffing. Judging by how red his eyes were, he’d been crying, and that was really the last thing they needed right now.

“We have to do something,” Jev said. “We cannot just let him…” He glanced down at Felipinho again. He was wide awake and if any of them dropped the k word he would know exactly what they were talking about. “We cannot let him do this.”

“What choice do we have?” Daniil asked. “If it was Dan here instead of one of us, you would have no problem letting it happen.”

“That is not true,” Jev snapped.

“Sure,” Daniil said, crossing his arms. “It doesn’t matter anyway. They’re gone now, and there is nothing we can do.”

“If you actually thought about it instead of being so cynical, maybe you would be able to think of something we _can_ do,” Jev hissed. “Sebastian? You are supposed to be clever, aren’t you?”

The doctor sniffed again, looking up at Jev with a blank face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You have a brain, don’t you?” Jev said. “Come on. You have been useless so far.”

“Hey, calm down,” Jenson said, gently. “Getting into an argument isn’t going to solve anything. Jev, I’m sorry but-.”

“No,” Jev said, definitely. “I am not listening to it.”

Daniil rolled his eyes, but managed to keep his mouth shut this time.

When the door opened, Daniil and Jev were the only ones to jump up, but there was little they could do with Felipinho still sitting in Jev’s arms and Daniil the only one going against them. Nobody said a word whilst the rest of the crew were led back into their room, each one paler than they had left and shaking.

“Dan?” Felipinho called. “Where’s Dan?”

Still nobody said anything. Someone shook their head and Jev slid down, back to the floor, shaking his own head.

“What happened?” Jenson asked, jumping up.

“There’s another ship coming,” someone said. “There was a bit of a panic. Dan went overboard.”

“What!” Felipinho cried. “No! He said he was coming back!”

He struggled out of Jev’s grip, glaring at the messenger.

“He’s coming back.”

 

“He is one of them.”

“You can’t be sure. It was dark. Everyone was panicking.”

“Was our ship sinking, no?”

“Yes, I know but that doesn’t mean-.”

“Know that. But it is. I saw him. He was there. He is one of them.”

Once upon a time Dan was able to wake up without feeling like his brain was going to slide out of his ears and form a puddle on the floor, but he couldn’t remember what that felt like anymore. He spluttered a cough, suddenly remembering that he’d been drowning when he passed out, but he seemed to be dry now.

“He’s waking up.”

“Get him some water.”

Dan tried to put his hands to his face to catch the cough but there was something stopping him. His hands were bound behind his back and no amount of tugging would move them. What he did notice, though, was that he was lying on something soft. Much softer than anything he’d felt in years.

“Here.”

The smooth edge of a glass was pressed against Dan’s lips and he didn’t have any choice but to let the water be poured into his mouth. As soon as his tongue was wet, he needed more, and he gulped down the water until the glass was taken from his mouth, water dripping down his chin.

When Dan finally opened his eyes, he found a very familiar pair looking back at him. He jerked back in the bed he was lying on, peering at the two men he didn’t recognise. The taller leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed, the tops of his cheeks and nose sun burnt. The other – the one with the unsettlingly familiar eyes – sat beside the bed, watching Dan.

Neither seemed sure what to do next.

“You were drowning,” the taller said. “Reckon you went overboard from a ship a little way ahead of us, but they didn’t stop to help you.”

“Right,” Dan said, uncertainly. He sat up and went to rub his head before he remembered the current state of his hands. “And these?”

“We do not trust you,” whispered the shorter man.

“Why not?” Dan asked, trying to gather his brains together for long enough to figure out what was going on.

“Why were you in the sea?” the taller man asked.

“They panicked,” Dan said. “Well, they were going to throw me overboard anyway but then they saw you guys coming and they were going to take us back down to where they were keeping us but then I fell in… and you… dragged me out?”

“Felipe thought he recognised you,” the taller man said.

“Felipe?” Dan looked between the two men until he realised where he recognised the eyes from. “You’re Felipinho’s father.”

“You see!” Felipe cried, his voice hoarse. He jumped up to face his friend. “What did I say? Knew he was one of them.”

“One of what?” Dan asked.

“The pirates,” Felipe said, whipping back round to face Dan. “You are one of the pirates who stole our ship. Who kidnapped my son.”

“We didn’t kidnap anyone,” Dan said. “You left him behind.”

“Where is he?” Felipe asked. “Please… please don’t say…”

“He’s safe,” Dan said. He didn’t even want to know what Felipe had thought had happened to him. “Or, he was safe when he was with us. We were bringing him back. My friend had this message saying you were in Montefiore and we were bringing him back. But then we got attacked and everything.”

“He is alive.”

Dan nodded quickly. “When I left him he was safe. He was with my friend.”

“You see!” Felipe said, turning back around to his friend. “You see Rob? What did I tell you?”

“Alright,” Rob said, pushing himself away from the door. “You were right. But we’re still no closer to finding him.”

“You have to help them,” Dan said, quickly. “We were captured by pirates.”

Felipe snorted, glaring at Dan. “And why should we help you?”

“You should help us because it’s the only way you’ll get Felipinho back. Please. We’ve been looking after him all this time. We’ve been keeping him safe for months.”

“And we have been searching for him for months,” Felipe cried.

“Calm down,” Rob said, gently, pulling Felipe into a hug. “We’ll go after them, ok? We know where he is and we’ll get him. We’re not far from Montie. If they know what you’ve offered they’ll probably dock there are come to find you, alright? We’ll find him.”

 

There wasn’t much to say. Everyone had fallen silent again, all watching Jev to wait and see what he would do next. But Jev did nothing. Even when Felipinho was wailing about how unfair everything was, and Jenson had tried to comfort him, Jev did nothing.

Because that was what he always did.

He should have gotten Dan out of this sooner. He should have never let Dan get into all this in the first place. If he had only been more insistent to begin with, neither of them would ever have been in this mess. They would have been back home, in their quiet little port where fuck all ever happened, and Dan would have been complaining every day for the rest of his life about how boring it all was, but he would still be alive.

Felipinho sat himself on Jev’s lap, facing him, wiping dirt around his own face in an attempt to rub his eyes.

“You have to make Dan come back,” he whispered.

“I… I can’t…”

“You have to,” Felipinho said, louder. “You have to because you love him.”

“I can’t do anything, Felipinho, I’m sorry.”

Felipinho groaned again and buried his face in Jev’s chest. “It’s not fair. Life’s not fair. I want Papa and I want Dan and they’re both gone and it’s not fair.”

“I know,” Jev said, gently, trying and failing to sooth the child. “I know, but there’s nothing we can do.”

“There is,” the child moaned. “There has to be.”

“We’re under attack.”

Jev looked up. He hadn’t even noticed one of Alonso’s men come in, but the rest of the crew seemed to have noticed.

“The captain says anybody willing to fight for us can keep their life.”

“What?” Daniil asked, sitting up, whilst the rest of the men murmured between themselves.

“It’s a trick,” Jenson said. “Don’t fall for it.”

“Is no trick,” Alonso’s man said. “Believe it or not, it is up to you, but if you stay here then you will be killed. Even if you do not know for sure this is true, it is more of a chance than you have down here, no?”

“I’m not moving,” Sebastian said, sitting beside Jev and crossing his arms.

“Anybody else?” Alonso’s man asked.

Nobody said anything, shuffling their feet and looking at the floor. Only Jev, Felipinho, Sebastian, and Jenson were sat down now. Jenson looked up at them in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious.”

“If there is a chance I am going to take it,” Daniil said, unapologetically, with the others mumbling in agreement. “I am sorry, Jenson, but there are some things more important than loyalty.”

“The captain saved your life.”

“If he saved mine then he condemned others,” Daniil said. “It is not anything against Webber or anyone else. I am doing this for me, Jenson. We are all doing this for us. If you do not want to help then fine. But there is nothing else we can do.”


	14. Preparations

“So we’re just going to run in there and attack them?” Dan asked, shading his eyes from the sun as he peered at the ship they were chasing. They were faster, but not by much. The traders seemed to have come back to sea prepared for a fight, though, or more prepared than they had been the last time they were in the water, at least, and nobody was holding back in their preparations for when the ship eventually caught up with Alonso’s.

“The only other thing we can do is wait to see if they go into Montefiore,” Rob said, watching the ship ahead of them slow down. It looked like they weren’t the only one’s ready for a fight. He swallowed hard, hoping he was making the right decision now. “And I don’t think that’s going to happen. You knew about Felipe’s offer, you said?”

“Yes,” Dan said. “But I don’t know if whoever’s in charge of that ship knows.”

“Well, if he don’t know, he ain’t going to dock in Montefiore, is he?” Rob said. “Then we’ve got no other choice.”

“You really think you can fight?” Dan asked. They hadn’t been able to hold of Webber’s crew for very long and Alonso’s was greater than they had been. He didn’t want to be on the failing side again.

“We came ready for a fight,” Rob assured him. It had been the plan, after all, when they set sail. Find Felipinho and do whatever needed to be done to get him back.

“And you can do it without hurting my friends?” Dan asked.

Rob didn’t say anything for a moment. He turned his back on the ship they were approaching, watching his own crew hurrying about the ship, preparing themselves for the attack, and tried to spot Felipe, but he couldn’t be seen in the ordered chaos that Rob really did know nothing about.

“They’re not our priority,” Rob admitted. “But I’ve no interest in hurting anybody who doesn’t need to be hurt.”

Dan had already pleaded their case, how they shouldn’t be punished since they’d looked after Felipinho so well and intended to bring him back home safe. It was probably the only reason he didn’t still have his hands tied together or he wasn’t in some cell below deck.

“All this for a little boy,” Dan said, quietly. “How did you convince them to let you go after him?”

“Money gets you things, Daniel,” Rob said. “And some things are worth more than all the money in the world.”

 

They were alone in Alonso’s cabin and Mark didn’t know what was stopping him from killing the Spaniard but, for whatever reason, he didn’t move from where he’d been sat, in a chair facing the door. Alonso watched him in silence for a while, ignoring the panic that was going on outside as his men and most of Mark’s crew prepared for another attack.

“Are you going to let them live?” Mark asked, quietly. He wasn’t sure if he should, if asking would only make things worse for his crew, but he asked anyway.

Alonso shrugged. “Maybe. If they are of any help then I shall.”

“They are good people, Fer,” Mark tried. “As good as you and I. They don’t deserve to die.”

“If they are as good as you and I, maybe they do deserve to die,” Alonso said. “We are nothing to make role models out of, Mark. Maybe your child is better off without you, if there is a child.”

“They’re just rumours, mate,” Mark lied. “There has never been anyone.”

“There was someone whilst there was still me,” Alonso said. “Or do you still conveniently forget that. The stories have become so grand that you feel you must act up to them?”

“I don’t listen to the stories,” Mark said.

That was the truth. He had no interest in what the people of the port towns he visited said about him, and he never had. It was Alonso who clung onto every rumour he heard, angry that there were never any about him. The attitude didn’t make any sense to Mark. If Alonso paid more attention to earning his riches and less to what people said about him, he might have stories of his own.

“Why make me chose?” Mark asked.

“Why not?” Alonso replied. “Sometimes you have to take some responsibility for your own actions, and so far you have taken none.”

“If you’re still hooked on what happened…” Mark began, not entirely sure how to end the sentence. He shook his head, looking away from Alonso. “Maybe if you weren’t so pathetic, you would get some of your own legends, mate.”

Alonso covered the distance between them in three long strides, pushing Mark back against the back of the chair and forcing him to look up at him. “What did you say?”

“It’s true, ain’t it?” Mark spat, defiantly looking Alonso in the eye. “All this is because of something I did a life time ago. And you’re still caught up on it. Maybe if you forgot about that, or if you were actually big enough to move on from it, you would have done something worth telling stories about. But now… what even are you Alonso?”

“I am greater than you, Webber.”

Mark just shook his head. “You’re not the person I loved, though, are you?”

“You never loved me.”

“You’ve changed so much, you’re practically unrecognisable,” Mark said. “I loved you once, and that was probably not a great choice of mine, looking at what it’s done to you.”

“Yes, you did this to me,” Alonso said. “You hurt me, and now you hurt them too.”

“You keep telling yourself that, Nando,” Mark said. “But you killed a man today. You killed a man to punish me for loving one years ago.”

 

“Jev said we shouldn’t have gone off with them,” Dan said, quietly, back in Rob’s cabin where he could stay out of harm’s way.

It seemed the traders still didn’t trust him, and there was only so many times he could try to tell them he was on their side. Felipinho’s father had also been banished to the cabin so he could go hysterical without getting into danger.

Dan couldn’t tell if he was listening, Felipe sat on the bed, twisting the edges of his jacket between his fingers. A jacket, Dan noticed, that looked more expensive than even Felipinho’s shoes. Money definitely didn’t seem to be a problem here.

“Jev said,” Dan continued, not bothering to care if Felipe was listening to him or not. “That we should have just stayed at home. But I was an idiot. I was the one who got us into this mess. I just wanted to do something exciting. And he just wanted to look after me. He should be the one here and safe, not me.”

Maybe Rob didn’t want to hurt anyone unnecessarily, but Dan was sure that none of the men on going to the fight would really think twice about killing someone if they thought they were in their way. Dan probably wasn’t all that safe here. He didn’t know how to bring up the pardon or anything, and he didn’t know what was going to happen when they eventually got Felipinho back. But he was a million times safer than where Jev was now.

“We’re not pirates,” Dan said. “Not really. We were just doing what we were always doing, just for a different person. I can’t even hold a cutlass properly. It’s not like… it’s not like you think it is, in the stories. It’s hard, and sometimes it’s fun, but mostly it’s boring. I thought it would be a lot better, and Jev tried to tell me it was awful but I didn’t listen. And now he must think I’m dead.”

“Well, he will find out the truth soon enough,” Felipe said.

Dan looked up to find he was being watched. Felipe was still fiddling with the cuffs of the jacket, but his eyes weren’t focused there.

“What are you going to do?” Dan asked. “Just get Felipinho back and then… put us in prison? Kill us?”

“The punishment for piracy is death,” Felipe muttered.

“We’re not pirates.”

“And how do you explain what you have done?” Felipe asked.         “People have died. Have had to write letters to the families of sailors because _you_ and _your friends_ killed them. And you do not call yourself a pirate? What are you then?”

“I’m an idiot,” Dan said. “I made a mistake. But I’ve made up for it, haven’t I? I protected Felipinho. I stopped them hurting him.”

“They would not have had the chance to hurt him if it were not for you and your friends,” Felipe said, quietly, shutting his eyes. It wasn’t long now. Not long and his son would be back in safety and they could put all this behind them.

 

Even down in their cell, Jev and the others could hear the sound of the preparations above. The other ship must have been catching up with them, then. There was no way of telling what was going on above them, how well Alonso’s men were prepared or how many of their ship mates were going to be standing by the end of the fight. If it weren’t for their claim that the other ship existed, Jenson would have put it all down to a trick, though he didn’t entirely believe that Alonso needed their help.

“Maybe it’s somebody nice,” Felipinho said, squinting through a tiny hole he’d found, but all he could see was sea and sky. “Maybe it’s somebody nice and maybe they saved Dan and maybe they’re going to save us too.”

Jenson looked between Sebastian and Jev, but neither of them seemed to have heard what the child said, or they weren’t paying attention anyway.

“Maybe,” he said. “Come away from there. I think it’s time you had a nap, yeah?”

“I don’t need naps, I’m not a baby,” Felipinho said, standing up on his toes to try to get a better look.

“Of course not,” Jenson said, falling back to lean against the wall.

He glanced back over at Jev, who seemed not to have heard any of what had been said. Maybe the child would listen to him, but it looked like Jev had very much given up. Sebastian didn’t look much better, and any conversation Jenson had tried to have with either of them had bounced straight back at him.

“Guys?” Jenson asked, getting absolutely zero response from either of them. He huffed, annoyed. “Come on. Jev, do you really think Dan would want you to just give up? Really?”

“There is nothing we can do,” Jev said, his voice barely any louder than a whisper. It was true. They couldn’t get out and, even if they could, it was hardly as if they had anywhere else to go in the middle of the sea.

“Sure there is,” Jenson said, crossing the room to sit beside him. “You were all for doing something before. And I know… I know you’ve lost Dan and it will be hard but you can’t just give up.”

“Can’t I?” Jev asked. “Why not? Seems very easy to do right now.”

“What about him?” Jenson asked, nodding towards Felipinho.

Jev rolled his eyes over to look at the child, then shook his head. “There’s nothing else I can do.”

“There’s a ship! I see the ship!” Felipinho cried, bouncing up and down in front of his little hole. “Jev! Come and look! There’s the ship!”

Jenson pulled a face which Jev guessed was supposed to say “I told you so” but Jev wasn’t entirely sure what he was supposed to have been told.

Sebastian was the only one to move, moving Felipinho aside so he could crouch down and look. Jenson pulled his “I told you so” face again and Jev guessed, if Sebastian could drag himself up, so could he.

“It’s a good ship, I know it,” Felipinho said, still bouncing. “They must have come to rescue us. Come and look, Jev.”

It was very unlikely it was a good ship, and Jev could see them going from one prison to another if they weren’t killed first, but he still smiled at Felipinho’s excitement.

“What do you see?” Jenson asked Sebastian, crouching down beside him.

“There is definitely a ship,” Sebastian said, squinting to see through the tiny hole. “It looks pretty official.”

“Not pirates?” Jenson asked.

“Not pirates,” Sebastian said before being shoved out of the way by Felipinho so he could look.

“What do you think?” Sebastian asked. “If they are port officials and everything, do you think they will let us go? We are prisoners, after all. They cannot think we are on Alonso’s side.”

“Maybe,” Jenson said, but he didn’t sound very hopeful.

“It’s Papa!”


	15. Escape Plans

The firing of the cannon balls shook the entire ship and Felipinho shuffled closer to Jev whilst Jev tried to comfort him. Jenson and Sebastian were still taking it in turns to look out the tiny hole, but neither of them had said anything yet.

There was hope. There was always hope. Felipinho had been right about it being a good ship, hadn’t he? There was a chance that he’d been right about the rest. There was a chance Dan was still alive.

If Alonso didn’t sink the ship, that was.

“It will be alright,” Jev whispered again, but he wasn’t sure who he was even speaking to anymore. “Don’t worry. It will be alright.”

“They’ve not hit yet,” Jenson said. “But if they get any closer there’s little chance they’re going to be missed.”

And they would need to come closer. Jev knew that. If they wanted to be rescued, the other ship was going to need to be closer.

“Maybe we could try and get out,” Sebastian suggested. “They would not need to come closer if we could go to them.”

Jev raised an eyebrow at the comment but said nothing. Something had changed in the doctor and he wasn’t about to complain about it. Enthusiasm could only get them so far, though, and he wasn’t going to get his hopes up until someone actually came up with a way out. Jenson looked like he was thinking the same thing.

“We could get someone in here,” Sebastian began, knowing he was expected to have a plan. “Tell them we want to fight or something. And then… attack?”

He sounded as confident in that as Jev was.

Jenson snorted. “I don’t think we’re going to get very far like that, mate,” he said, patting Sebastian on the back. “Even if there was just one in here.”

“Then…” Sebastian began again. He had as much faith in his ability to come up with a plan as Jenson and Jev did, but if nobody else was going to try then it was his turn. “Then one of us sneaks out.”

“And does what?”

“Finds the keys. Finds something to attack the guard with. Finds Mark.”

He wasn’t sure what help the captain was supposed to be right now, but he was sure - he was _sure_ – Mark wouldn’t be on Alonso’s side. Mark would help them out, and be able to come up with some kind of plan. Better than he was able to.

“That’s rubbish,” Jev muttered, unhelpfully.

“No, I don’t think it is,” Jenson said, thoughtfully.

“Yes, but how are any of us supposed to sneak out?” Jev asked, standing. “Is hardly likely that they will not notice a fully grown man leaving.”

“Yes,” Jenson admitted. “But what if it wasn’t a fully grown man leaving?”

 

“I know you can hear me!” Sebastian yelled, slamming against the door. “I know you’re there.”

“You are sure you can do it?” Jev asked, crouching beside Felipinho. “You just have to find Captain Webber, ok? You know what he looks like.”

Felipinho nodded.

Jev didn’t like this. He didn’t like it one bit but, after failing to come up with anything better, he’d had to agree.

“You have to be brave, ok,” Jev said, assuming the child was as scared as he was.

Felipinho nodded again. “I will be brave.”

“Open the god damn-!”

The door opened and Sebastian jumped back from the door. The guard looked ready to explode, glaring at Sebastian, before Jenson dived at him, distracting the man for long enough for Felipinho to slip out. Looking between the guard, who now had hold of Sebastian’s arm in one hand and was pushing Jenson off of himself in the other, Jev considered going after him, until the guard slammed a hand against the door, shutting it and stopping any further escape.

“What do you want?” he asked, pushing Sebastian into Jenson.

Sebastian gulped, looking to his friends for help.

“We just want to know if our friends are alright,” Jenson said, thinking quickly. Really, they should have thought this through.

The guard smirked. “And what difference would it make to you if they aren’t?”

“Please,” Sebastian said, stepping back when the guard came a little closer. “They’re our friends.”

“It will not matter once you are dead,” the guard said, backing into the door. “If you would like to keep your pretty face in one piece, I would suggest you keep your mouth shut.”

 

“Why aren’t we getting any closer?” Felipe asked.

“We go any closer and they’ll blast a hole in our hull,” Rob said. “Felipe baby, stay cool.”

“How am I supposed to-? No, I know. I’m sorry.” He leaned against the barrels lined up at the edge of the deck, watching another canon ball fall short and spray water over the men preparing a boat. “We need to get closer.”

“I know.”

“You’re going in those?” Dan asked. He knew he shouldn’t be out here. He’d been told to wait in Rob’s cabin and he had no business standing here and waiting to see what was going to happen, but he couldn’t bare not knowing.

“We don’t have much choice,” Rob said through gritted teeth. “We get closer they sink us. Or would you rather we wait until they run out of cannon balls?”

“They’ll blast those out of the water,” Dan said, nodding to the flimsy wooden row boats.

“And they will wear out the men before they can get a chance to fight,” Felipe said. He couldn’t believe he was agreeing with a pirate, but he really couldn’t see how this was going to work.

“Any other ideas?” Rob asked, looking between the two of them. He shook his head, wincing as another cannon ball was fired. “Look, I don’t like this either.”

“Could we turn around?” Dan asked. “If we approach them from behind where they won’t have any cannons…”

“And risk them running off?” Felipe asked.

“It isn’t ideal but it’s the best we’ve got,” Dan said, looking to Rob for the reply.

Rob looked between Dan and the ship then sighed. “Alright,” he said. “But this better work.”

 

Alonso hadn’t said anything for a while and wasn’t looking at Mark. Mark was eying the door. He could make an escape, if he saw fit. He doubted it was locked whilst Alonso was inside, though what he was going to do trapped on the ship he didn’t know. There was still the possibility of attacking him as well, but Mark still hadn’t taken that option yet. He did look around the cabin again though, whilst Alonso was still lost in his own thoughts, in case an attack was needed.

“Would you…”

Mark looked up suddenly, but Alonso wasn’t looking at him.

“Would I what?”

“Would you have stayed?”

Mark stood, hesitantly, but Alonso still didn’t look up.

“What happened before happened,” he said. He didn’t move from across the room, waiting for some kind of reaction, but Alonso didn’t give one. He was sat hunched over and Mark couldn’t see his face. “Your men are going to need you,” he said. “If you’re going to attack.”

“Would you have stayed with me,” Alonso asked again, ignoring the comment.

“You mean after you took everything and left me stranded?” Mark asked.

“Before that,” Alonso said.

Mark sighed and came to sit beside Alonso. He wasn’t sure how to react when he could see his old friend clearly so distressed, but decided against patting him on the back or putting his arm around him.

“I would have stayed with you after,” he said, keeping his hands to himself because nothing else seemed right after so long. “If I thought you would let me.”

“But you didn’t,” Alonso pointed out. “You had me killed instead.”

“No, Fer. I never would have had you killed.”

Alonso huffed a laugh that Mark didn’t feel was entirely appropriate. “Nearly died though, no?”

“That was not my fault,” Mark said. He knew exactly what the Spaniard was talking apart, remembered the night as vividly as if it had happened moments ago. “Not entirely,” he admitted after a moment’s thought. Maybe Alonso wouldn’t have found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time if it wasn’t for him, but he wasn’t going to accept the blame for the near death experience.

Alonso shook his head, but didn’t reply. They sat in silence again, this one even more uncomfortable to begin with. It didn’t feel like that long ago since Mark would have been putting his arm around his friend, comforting him however he wanted to be comforted. Now everything that had once felt natural to him was wrong.

“I’m sorry.”

“Sorry?” Alonso’s head shot up. “You think sorry will help?”

Mark jumped up and backed away when the Spaniard stood. Apparently that wasn’t the right thing to say either.

“You say this now, after years, and think that… what do you think?”

“I think we need to move past this, Fernando,” Mark said, again, stepping back. Away from the door, he noticed. Not his best decision.

“I was sent to the gallows, Mark, or do you forget this?” Alonso said. “They were going to kill me. You did nothing to help. You cheated on me and you left me to die. And you say I should move on.”

“Yes,” Mark said, backing into the wall. Alonso closed the gap, looking up at Mark with dark, blood shot eyes. Mark didn’t dare gulp, holding the Spaniard’s eye whilst his hands searched for something to defend himself with. “Yes because there is nothing I can do about that now, Fernando. Nothing either of us can do to change that anymore. Let’s… start again.”

Mark could _feel_ Alonso’s breathing change. His eyes seemed to clear a little, focusing properly.

Mark’s hand gripped onto something hard, but he couldn’t see what.

“Start again?” Alonso asked, gently.

“Yeah,” Mark said softly, letting Alonso slowly raise a hand to his face. As slowly as possible, he raised his own hand, holding onto whatever he’d found. “Yeah, we start again Fernando.”

The door opened and closed. Alonso spun around, stepping away from Mark and scanning the room, but he couldn’t see anything.

Mark gulped again and brought the weight in his hand against Alonso’s head. Alonso fell away from him, clutching his head where Mark had hit him. Mark froze, completely forgetting what he was supposed to be doing next. Alonso’s hands were red, and Mark wasn’t sure if he liked that or not.

“Captain Webber,” Felipinho called.

Mark raised his hand, fingers still curled around the weight, until he spotted who was speaking.

“Felipinho? What are you- How did you get out?”

“Come on,” Felipinho urged, still stood by the door. “We need to get the others and we need to go to the other ship.”

“You hit me,” Alonso said, his voice full of surprise. One bloodied hand was still clutching his head. He looked down at the other in disgust, then back to Mark. “You hit me.”

“I’m sorry,” Mark said, gingerly approaching Alonso again. If he was going to make an escape, he was going to need a better weapon than a paper weight. And the keys.

“Do not think you know what that word means, Webber,” Alonso said.

 

“He’s been gone a while,” Jev pointed out. He couldn’t sit down, waiting nervously whilst Jenson and Sebastian took it in turns to try to peer out of the hole.

“He’ll be back soon,” Jenson said, standing to let Sebastian try to see. “Don’t worry.”

“Anything could have happened,” Jev mumbled. He didn’t like this plan, but he’d told Jenson and Sebastian that enough times and if he said it again they were probably going to leave him behind. It was the only plan they had, whether he liked it or not.

“If he’d been caught, they would have brought him back down here, wouldn’t they?” Jenson said, trying to comfort him.

“Or…”

They could have done what they’d done to Dan. He could have lost Felipinho like he’d lost Dan and then what reason did he have to do anything?

“They’re turning around,” Sebastian called.

“What?” Jenson asked, immediately distracted. “They can’t be.”

“They are,” Sebastian said. “They’re leaving.”

Jenson moved Sebastian aside to peek through the hole. He was right. They were definitely leaving. “They can’t leave,” he said as he watched, as if that would stop them.

“What do we do now?” Sebastian asked. There only escape route was closing fast and they would soon be back to the only option being death.

“We stick to the plan,” Jenson said. There wasn’t anything else they could do now. “Even if they ship does leave, we can still make it to the port. It’s not that far.”

“Without being seen?” Sebastian asked. He hadn’t even been confident they would be able to make it to the other ship without being seen, let alone all the way to the port.

“We’re going to have to,” Jenson said.

Jev shook his head, pessimistically. Dan was gone. Felipinho was gone. Escape was gone. He should have done a better job of convincing Dan in the first place. None of this would have happened if he hadn’t let Dan join Webber’s crew.

“It’ll be ok,” Jenson insisted. “We’re almost there now.”

Almost there wasn’t close enough, and there was nothing Jenson could say that would convince Jev that this wasn’t all hopeless.


	16. Rescued

“Fernando, just give it up,” Mark said. He stood between the door and Alonso, Felipinho behind him, but he wasn’t going anywhere without the gun the other pirate carried and a set of keys. He knew he had no influence over Alonso, definitely not after smashing the weight into his head. He could probably take him out now, but the fact that Alonso could easily reach for the gun stopped him. “Mate.”

“Run, if you are going to,” Alonso said, wobbling where he stood. He still had one hand clutching his head, growing steadily redder the longer he held it.

If he thought there was anywhere he could run without a weapon, Mark would already have gone, and Alonso knew it. The Australian eyed the gun on his old friend’s hip.

“Give it up,” Mark said. “The sooner I leave, the sooner I can send someone to get your doctor or something.”

“Would like that, wouldn’t you,” Alonso said, smirking a little even though the pain. “Would like to play the hero.”

“Yes, and you would rather be a stubborn git and die than give in,” Mark said. “Please, Fernando.”

“If were a hero, would go and get a doctor anyway,” Alonso said. “But are not. Are the same as you always have been. Would watch me die.”

“Fernando.”

A cheer came from outside, distracting them both for a moment. It was as good as he was going to get, and Mark launched for the gun whilst Alonso was waiting to hear what the cheer was for. They both toppled over, Alonso reaching for the gun as soon as he realised what had happened.

Felipinho watched them wrestle over the gun and he was pretty sure this wasn’t part of anybody’s plan but there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Alonso’s blood was on the gun and it slipped between Mark’s fingers a few times. He heard the click of a catch and scrambled on top of the Spaniard, out of the way of any stray bullets that may be shot. One hand brushed against the keys the other pirate kept on his belt, but he was too focused on getting the gun to think about that for a moment.

“This. Is. Stupid.”

The noise of the shot shocked Alonso long enough for Mark to get hold of the gun, taking the keys with him as he stood. A cry from the other side of the room caught his attention.

“Felipinho.”

“You shot me,” the child said, more shocked than distressed, but his face had gone a shade too pale to be safe.

“Let me see,” Mark said, leaving Alonso on the floor. It wasn’t anything more than a scratch, the bullet embedded in the door behind him. “It’ll be fine.”

“It _hurts_ ,” Felipinho whined.

“Sebastian will fix it,” Mark said. Now all they had to do was get to where they were being kept and…

“I feel funny,” Felipinho said, falling back to lean against the door.

“Come here,” Mark said, picking up the child. He glanced back at Alonso, who was picking himself up from the floor. “I’ll send help,” he promised, before leaving and locking the door behind him.

 

They were going to go to the port. This wasn’t hopeless. They’d go to Montefiore like the original plan and find Felipinho’s father. And maybe he would have Dan. There had to be a chance, didn’t there? He had to hope. At the very least, they’d have his body and… no. Dan was still alive. He had to be still alive.

“Why’s he taking so long?” Sebastian muttered to himself, growing impatient now the ship was gone and he had nothing to entertain himself with.

“Because he is five,” Jev snapped back from across the room.

Jenson sighed, having given up trying to get a cheerful conversation going when Jev and Sebastian didn’t even seem to want to speak to one another. Instead, he just continued to recite their make shift plan to himself. There had to be some row boats somewhere, and maybe the five of them would be a bit of a squash but they would live with that. They would live with that or die trying, because they didn’t have any other choice.

“They should be here by now,” Sebastian said, losing faith in his own plan every second that passed. He should have convinced Jenson to let him go. He would be back by now.

“They will get here when they get here,” Jev said through gritted teeth, glaring at Sebastian. The sooner he could get away from this life, the better.

“You think I do not know this?” Sebastian scoffed.

“Don’t…” Jenson began, but the door opening cut him off. He backed away, quickly, not sure what to expect. Their plan could very well have failed – Sebastian was right and Felipinho _had_ been gone for a while – and Jenson wasn’t really prepared for their attempt to be thrown back at them.

Mark rushed past Jenson, closing the door behind him.

“We need to go now,” he said.

They would know as soon as they got in to Alonso what they were planning, and try to stop them getting off the ship. Mark hoped the few men that stood in the room weren’t hoping to pose an attack because that wasn’t going to work.

“What happened to Felipinho?” Jev asked when the child was dumped in his arms.

“He’s fine,” Mark said. “Come on.”

He had the keys out again and was fumbling to find the right one when Jenson took them from him. Usually, it would be argued as an act of disrespect but Mark was shaking too badly to argue anymore. Jenson found the right key and unlocked the door again.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Jenson asked Mark.

“I know where the boats are,” Mark said, leading the way. “We go to the port and I’ll come up with a plan there.”

“No,” Sebastian said, quickly. “The other ship. Felipinho said he saw his father on it.”

“His arm,” Jev asked, bringing up the rear. “What happened?”

“We will deal with that when we are safe, Vergne,” Mark said. “What about the ship?”

“Felipinho said he saw his father on it,” Sebastian said again. “They were turning around and leaving, but we could still make it.”

Mark stopped, thinking. He didn’t know how much he could trust the child, who seemed to be struggling to stay awake at the moment, and coming from the ship they were trying to attack might make them look like a threat.

But…

“Alright,” Mark said, against his better judgment. “We go to the ship.”

 

“They are cheering,” Felipe said, putting the telescope down.

“They’ll think they’ve won,” Dan said. He didn’t ask for the telescope. Not after last time. His hands still hurt from the instrument being smacked against them.

“This had better work,” Felipe muttered. He was refusing to trust the pirate, no matter what he said.

“I want them safe as much as you do,” Dan cut. He was getting a little tired of being treated like the scum of the earth. A voice in his head – a voice which sounded very much like Felipe – told him that he should have thought about that before he decided to run off and join a pirate crew, but it was too late for that now.

“What do we do if they leave?” Felipe asked and Dan looked up to answer until he realised Felipe wasn’t talking to him.

“We go after them,” Rob said. “We’re faster than them. We’ll catch up and we’ll get Felipinho back, don’t worry.”

“Is that a boat?” Dan asked, blocking the sun from his eyes as if that might make him be able to see further, knowing that Felipe wouldn’t give him the telescope. “There’s a boat coming, ain’t there?”

Felipe lifted the telescope to his face but Rob snatched it away before he could see anything and the Brazilian joined Dan in leaning over the edge of the ship and peering into the water. There was a boat coming, a lone row boat, by the looks of things, but Felipe couldn’t see properly.

“Are they attacking?” Felipe asked. “Do we attack them?”

A grin spread across Rob’s face and he handed the telescope back to Felipe. “No, I don’t think we do.”

 

“Come on, little man,” Jev said, pressing his lips to Felipinho’s forehead whilst Sebastian inspected his arm. There was a lot of blood, he noticed. No, he wasn’t going to think like that. Sebastian could do something.

“Take off his shirt,” Sebastian instructed. Jev did so gently, wincing when Felipinho did. It wasn’t deep, he didn’t think, but there was still a lot of blood.

Sebastian pulled at the fabric that wasn’t designed for this much wear and tear, ripping off a strip and tying it above the wound before wrapping it around his arm.

“It will have to do for now,” the doctor said. “It will need to be sown up when we are aboard the ship.”

He looked up at the ship they were heading towards. It had dropped its anchor, thankfully, making it less work for Jenson to reach. From their angle, none of them could see anyone on the deck, and they had no way of knowing if they were going to be greeted by friendly faces, but it definitely looked like something official, rather than pirates. Hopefully that was a good thing.

“We are nearly there now,” Jev said, quietly, rocking gently with Felipinho on his lap, trying to keep him from closing his eyes again. “Come on. You need to stay awake to see your papa, don’t you?”

“Feel sick,” Felipinho moaned again. He hadn’t been sick yet, which had to be a good thing but, judging by the colour in his face – or lack of it – Jev didn’t think that was going to last much longer.

“I know,” he said, quietly. “I know you do. But we’re nearly there now. Then Sebastian can make you all better, can’t he?”

“Don’t like Sebastian,” Felipinho mumbled, his eyes closed again. “Said I was going to die.”

“Yeah, but he has not said that this time, has he?” Jev said, watching as they slowly approached the ship. By the look of things, they were going to let them aboard, which Jev was thankful for. He wasn’t sure what they could do if they didn’t, though the captain looked like he was ready for a fight.

“They’re following us,” Sebastian said. Jenson and the captain both looked up, peering over Sebastian’s shoulder. There was a boat being lowered into the water back on Alonso’s ship.

“They won’t catch up. Not before we get to the ship,” the captain said, carefully standing to get a better view of their pursuers. They weren’t even in the water yet. They were safe, as long as Jenson kept things up.

There didn’t seem to be that many of them in the boat, less than there were in their own boat, but none of them doubted that they would be armed, and whilst the only thing they had to put up any defence was the gun that the captain had taken from Alonso it didn’t look like they would be able to put up much of a defence.

“Come on, Jenson,” Sebastian said, impatiently, as if they weren’t going to get to the other ship in time.

“What if they start shooting?” Jev asked as the captain sat back down, clearly thinking the same thing.

“They won’t get a good shot,” Webber said. He took a deep breath and was about to go on to explain further when there was a gun shot. All four men ducked, Jenson picking up his pace a little, but there bullet landed nowhere near them. There was a cry back by Alonso’s ship and one of the men on the boat fell into the water.

Jev could see men lining up on Alonso’s ship, looking at them and at the chasers who were only now in the water.

“They’re ours,” Webber said, squinting at the men lined up.

Jev squinted too, trying to make out any of the faces of the men on the ship. They _were_ his ship mates, or ex-ship mates now.

“They’re helping,” Sebastian said, unable to believe it. “They’re helping us. Why are they helping us?”

“They’re going to get themselves killed,” Jenson said, still rowing as he watched another one of the men fall from the boat.

“It’s not them who are shooting,” Jev said, looking up at the ship that they were getting steadily closer to.

 

“Just be careful,” Dan said, watching their best gun man pick the men off the boat one after another. Rob rolled his eyes, as if he were going to get anyone in Dan’s friend’s boat, but he could understand the concern. He watched the boat get closer, already ready to accept the passengers when they arrived.

“And what if they start shooting?” Dan asked, nodding towards the men they could see lining up to watch the chase.

“Then we hope they miss,” Rob said. His knuckles were white, his finger nails digging into the palm of his hands and drawing little crescents of blood. They were too close now for such a pessimistic tone. They were too close for this to go wrong.

“You get Felipinho aboard first,” Felipe was telling the men waiting to receive them. “Do not care what you think is best. You save my son first.”

“Calm down,” Rob said, leaving the shooter to go to his friend’s side. “Just a couple more minutes, ok?”

“Have waited months, Rob.”

“And you can wait a couple more minutes,” Rob said gently.

They waited in silence for the little boat full of men to be hoisted aboard, but once the four men climbed out there was chaos.

Jev still held Felipinho in his arms, refusing to hand him over to the men who tried to take the child away.

“He needs a doctor,” Jev said, the words falling out of his mouth. “He has been shot and he needs a doctor.”

“Felipinho,” Felipe cried, pushing past the people who were trying to see to his son. “Felipinho, it’s ok. Papa’s here. I’ve got you now.”

He pulled the child out of Jev’s arms, holding him to his chest and gently cradling him a little. Felipinho’s eyes were closed again and his arm looked a lot worse than it was and Felipe knew he needed to get him to the ship’s doctor but he couldn’t move yet.

“I have you now.”

“Jev!”

The Frenchman was stopped from trying to take Felipinho back by a bouncing Australian launching himself at him.

“Dan? Dan you’re alive.”

“Told you,” Felipinho said, waking up a little at Jev’s excitement. Then he realised he wasn’t being held by Jev. “Papa?”

“Yes,” Felipe said, gently. “Yeah, it’s me. Come on, let’s do something about that arm, hey? What have you been up to?”


	17. Fever

“I thought you were dead,” Jev whispered, his forehead pressed against Dan’s.

Dan just grinned at him, as happy as ever, and part of Jev is annoyed at that, but most of him is just relieved that he’s still alive. He’s still here.

“You don’t get rid of me that easily, mate,” Dan replied.

Jev sighed, letting himself smile. He knew they were being watched. He knew practically everyone on the deck was watching them. But he didn’t care. Dan was safe. He could stop worrying now.

“You’re not dead,” he whispered, wanting to just make sure again this was real.

“Not yet,” someone said.

Rob watched them, unimpressed. He would have gone with Felipe and the doctor, but someone was going to have to clean up the mess the pirates had caused.

“What are you-?” Jev looked between Dan and Rob, waiting for answers.

Dan shook his head, his smile falling a little. “Come on mate. You can’t… we brought Felipinho back, didn’t we? You promised a pardon.”

“You are pirates,” Rob said. “And the punishment for that is death. You knew that when you signed up for this, didn’t you? This can’t really be a surprise to you. You _killed_ people. All of you.”

Maybe going to the port would have been the better option. Mark looked around at the men surrounding them, ready to take them into another prison.

“Hang on a second,” he said. There had to be a way out of this. There was always a way out. “What makes you think we’re the pirates here, anyway? We’re not one of those guys,” he said, jerking his thumb back towards Alonso’s ship. “We escaped from them. They had us prisoners, were going to kill us or sell us as slaves. We’re not them.”

“It’s too late for that now, mate,” Rob said. “Your _friend_ has already told us everything.” He nodded back at Dan, who looked sheepishly at the floor. He’d killed them. That was what he’d done. He’d sent them all to their deaths. “There’s no way you’re going to talk your way out of this.”

“Dan,” Jev said with a sigh.

“I panicked,” Dan said. “I didn’t know what I was saying. I nearly died.”

“It’s ok,” Jev said, softly. “I will think of a way out.”

“It was your own decision,” Rob said. “You chose this life. You chose to commit crimes. Nobody forced you into doing any of what you’ve done. Thieves. Murderers. Kidnappers. Tell me why you think you should be pardoned, when you gave no such mercy to the men you threw overboard. The men whose families are grieving.”

“We brought Felipinho back,” Dan croaked, tears wetting his eyes. He wanted to go along with Jev’s plan, to go and start again somewhere else. He didn’t want this adventure anymore.

“You probably wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for the reward,” Rob said. “And even then, you brought him back dying.”

“He was shot,” Mark said, sternly. When he took a step towards the Brit, the men surrounding them stiffened, ready to attack, so he stopped. “It’s not that bad. I’ve seen worse done in the kitchen. And he was not shot by us. By _them,_ when we were trying to rescue him.”

“That doesn’t bring back the sailors you killed,” Rob said. “One good deed doesn’t make up for everything else you’ve done. It’s not my choice anyway. We all must follow the rules. I can’t let you go.”

 

_He woke lying on a beach, looking up at a cloudless blue sky with the sea water just reaching his toes before it hurried back into the ocean. Blinking in confusion, he sat up. There was nothing but sea for miles and miles, past the horizon, the same deep, bright blue as the sky. He scratched his head a little, gritty sand getting caught beneath his nails, and looked around. The sandy beach was empty, not even palm trees growing here. There was just him._

_Slowly, Felipinho stood, his bare feet sinking into the warm sand a little. He still couldn’t see anything beyond the water, no ship that brought him here or coming to take him away. Just sea, and sky, and sand. He didn’t like it._

_He couldn’t remember how he got here. He couldn’t remember… anything really. There was something strange going on here._

_Just as he had decided he was going to explore the island a little more, there was a splash from the water. Felipinho spun around quickly, but there was nothing there. The water lapped gently around his feet, tickling them a little._

_Curious, Felipinho decided exploring the island could wait, and he followed the receding water into the ocean, stopping when the water reached his knees. There was nothing here. He must have just imagined the splash._

_The water was warm and pleasant though, and Felipinho waded in a little further. He could still see the beach and the deserted island from where he stood, if he turned back to face it. He stopped when the water reached just above his waist, sinking his feet into the wet sand so the gentle to and fro of the water didn’t pull him with it._

_Maybe it would be a good idea to have a proper wash now. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a proper wash._

_He couldn’t remember anything really._

_Felipinho looked down into the water and was surprised to find a ghoulish creature looking back at him. He blinked, and the long, grey face was replaced by his own reflection. Yes, there was definitely something strange happening here._

_“Felipinho!”_

_He looked up at the sound of his name, turning back to the beach._

_“Papa?”_

_There was his father, and mother, and Dan and Jev all waiting for him on the beach. He grinned and they all smiled back at him. Having a proper wash could wait. He pulled his feet out from the sand and tried to race back out of the water, but the water kept pulling him back, slowing him down._

_“Papa! Mama!” he sang, grinning and splashing as he tried to get out of the water. His parents and friends waited for him on the beach, laughing and smiling and the deserted island couldn’t be so bad if they were there._

_Something wrapped itself around Felipinho’s arm and he stopped running. When he tried to turn around he found he couldn’t and tugging on the wet rope-like thing around his arm wasn’t helping._

_“Papa!” he cried, his voice full of panic rather than joy this time. “Papa! Mama! Help me!”_

_His parents did nothing as he was dragged back into the water by the thing around his arm, still laughing and smiling at him as if there was nothing wrong._

_“Help me! It won’t let go!”_

_Dan and Jev weren’t doing anything either. They all stood on the beach with their feet in the warm sand as if there was nothing wrong._

_Felipinho fell back into the water but scrambled up quickly, still tugging on the thing around his arm. It needed to let him go. He needed to get out of the water._

_He looked back to his parents, but they weren’t looking at him anymore. They sat on the beach with Dan and Jev. A- a thing sat on his father’s lap. The ghoul. The ghoul from in the water sat on his father’s lap and he should be sitting there, not the ghoul._

_“Mama! Papa! Help me, please!” he called again, but they were too far away, happily chatting away with the ghoul in his place. “It’s me! I’m Felipinho! Not him! You have to help me, Papa, please!”_

_He fell again, and whatever was pulling him backwards dragged him down into the water._

 

Felipe wiped the soaking wet cloth over Felipinho’s head again but it did nothing to calm him down or to cool down his fever. The ship’s doctor looked at him sadly, trying to explain the illness that had come over his son. It had probably been there for a while, the doctor said, but had been spurred on by an infection in the wound. Felipe didn’t look at him when he suggested they call for the priest. There would be no need for that.

“Open your eyes, hey?” Felipe said, gently, lifting Felipinho’s head a little as if that would help him. “Open your eyes for Papa.”

Felipinho didn’t even hear him, lost in the dream that the fever had brought on.

“I’ll need to go to speak to the pirates,” the doctor said, quietly. He wasn’t going to bring up the priest again. He’d speak to Rob and let the Brit deal with it. “It might help to find out when whatever this is started.”

“If it will help, go and do it,” Felipe whispered, not looking up from his son. He’d only just had him back. He wasn’t going to lose him again.

 

“It’s ok,” Jev kept telling him, ignoring the glares Sebastian was giving Dan from across their new prison room. “It’s not your fault.”

“I trusted them,” Dan whispered, his eyes closed. He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid. They were all as good as dead because he trusted a bunch of people he had no reason to trust. None of the others would have made that mistake. The others, if thrown overboard, would have gone and gotten them all help. They would have known to not trust someone who had every reason to hate them. They would have saved them.

“It’s ok,” Jev said, gently, wishing Dan would stop blaming himself for all this. “We’ll think of a way out of this.”

“I do not see how,” Sebastian spat.

“Seb, don’t,” Jenson said, but he was tired and annoyed and feeling hopeless too. It was true. There would be no way out of this one. He’d seen the captain do amazing things before, but he wasn’t a miracle worker. And it seemed Webber had more on his mind than getting them out of there.

“It’s true, isn’t it?” Sebastian said, glaring at them from across the room. “There’s no way we can get out. You have killed us all for the sake of a child.”

“That is not true,” Jev snapped, standing. “We are going to get out of this. We got away from Alonso and we can get away from this. Captain?”

Webber looked up at Jev with a blank expression, not believing a word Jev said. Or not even hearing it. Jenson wasn’t sure which was worse.

“You have a plan?” Jenson asked Jev when nobody said anything.

“No,” Jev admitted. “No, not yet.”

“It is hopeless,” Sebastian spat, also standing “They are going to take us back to the port and they are going to hang us. You could not keep your mouth shut for a day? You had to tell them everything.”

“Stop it,” Jev snapped.

“He’s right,” Jenson said. “Arguing and accusing each other isn’t going to help. Sebastian, come and sit down.”

“Jenson?”

“Come and sit down,” Jenson said, sternly. “Look at it this way, we either die here or we come up with a plan to get us out of here, attacking Jev and Dan isn’t going to help.”

The clatter of feet on steps stopped Sebastian from arguing. Outside of their prison, the ship doctor was having a conversation with the guard, his voice too low for any of them to make out words. The guard didn’t seem impressed, but eventually agreed to whatever the doctor was saying and left up the stairs the doctor had come down from.

The doctor approached the bars slowly, clearly scared of what they would do, whilst the pirates all looked up at him, their argument put on hold for a moment to hear why he was here.

“You’ve been looking after Felipinho, yes?” the doctor asked, stepping back a little when Dan stood.

“Yeah,” Dan said. “Why? What’s happened?”

“He’s ill,” the doctor explained. “He’s come down with a fever, though I don’t think it was caused directly by the wound.”

“An infection?” Sebastian suggested. “There was little we could do to keep it clean, if you’ve come to hold that against us as well. I stopped the bleeding the best I could. That was the best we could do.”

“No, it’s not an infection, I don’t think,” the doctor said. “I think… Was he ill before?”

“No,” Jev said. “He was fine before.”

“No, he was ill,” Dan said. “A while ago. He was really ill. Sebastian said he wasn’t going to make it. But he pulled through. Then he was fine. Happy.”

“Right,” the doctor said, stepping forward again. “And what were the symptoms?”

Dan, Jev, and Sebastian went through the illness Felipinho had had, forgetting for a moment that they were all going to die and there was no need to be this civil.

“You think it might be related to that?” Dan asked once they had finished.

The doctor stepped back again, looking between Dan and Jev. It was clear they cared about the child. Cared more than they had been expected to.

“Maybe,” he admitted.

“I told you,” Sebastian said, a little too triumphant for the situation. “He won’t make it, will he?”

The doctor shook his head. “I don’t think so, no. We’ve still a little hope, but not much.”

“No,” Dan said, shaking his head. “He got better before, he’ll get better again.”

“God took mercy on him before,” the doctor said. “But he’s caught the illness again and there’s only so much God can do for him. I’ve told his father to allow the priest in but he refuses. There’s nothing else I can do.”

“That’s rubbish,” Dan said as the doctor made to go back up the stairs. “You’re a doctor aren’t you? You have to be able to do something. You can’t just let him die.”

“I am not,” the doctor said. “But there is nothing more _I_ can do.”

Dan shook his head again, but the doctor just ignored him, heading back up the stairs, only for the guard to return a couple of seconds later. Dan felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to find Jev standing beside him.

“It’s not your fault,” Jev said. One hand cupped Dan’s cheek, wiping away the tears that began to trickle down it with his thumb.

“He got better before,” Dan whispered.

Webber leaned over to where Jenson sat beside him, tearing his eyes away from Dan and Jev. “I have a plan.”

 

_The water rushed up past his head, filling his ears and mouth and nose. It was too dark to see anything, even when he did manage to prise his eyes open. The murky water stung them and he tried to scream or call for help, but it was no use. He reached up above him but his hands didn’t reach out of the water and there was nothing there for him to hold onto._

_Something wrapped around his arm – a rope or seaweed or something like that, he thought – and started to pull up down, away from the surface and away from the few glistening shards of light that reached through it. No, no he couldn’t go down. He pushed against whatever was pulling him, doing his best to swim away, but the thing only held on tighter, so tight it hurt and he wanted to scream again._

_There was something in the water, pulling him down. He could see its eyes, two bright yellow dots and then one larger red one in the centre, flashing. The dots were getting closer and closer and bigger and bigger but the rest of the sea monster remained hidden. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if that might help. It stopped the water stinging them for a little while, but that wasn’t his biggest problem._

_He thought he was drowning, but now it occurred to him that he might be about to be eaten alive._


	18. Waiting

“Felipe,” Rob said, gently, sitting beside his friend. Felipinho still hadn’t woken and he didn’t seem to be getting any better. “You have to let them try.”

“No I don’t,” Felipe said, wiping his eyes. It wouldn’t be long now until they were at the port. Felipinho just had to make it that far, and then they would find a proper doctor, someone who would know what to do, not like the useless idiot on the ship. “He will pull through, Rob. Do not need any divine help with that.”

“It’s worth a try, isn’t it?” Rob asked, rubbing Felipe’s back gently. “The pirates said he nearly died before, through the same illness, and their doctor said he would die, but God spared him.”

“Am beginning to think God is not paying much attention to us,” Felipe said. He didn’t look at Rob, his eyes on Felipinho and his son’s hand in his. “He would not do this: take him away from me, then give him back only for him to become like this.” He shook his head and wiped his eyes again. He wasn’t going to let in the priest who really couldn’t do anything to help his son.

“You can’t say things like that,” Rob said, softly. He knew _why_ Felipe had said it. It was easy enough to see why the Brazilian had given up on that kind of thing, when it was only his own determination that had brought Felipinho back to them. But he couldn’t say things like that. Things like that had consequences they would much rather avoid.

“Is true, isn’t it?” Felipe said, harshly.

“No,” Rob said. “We don’t get given hurdles we can’t get over.”

“So why is there any need for a priest if Felipinho can overcome this alone?” Felipe asked.

Rob sighed. He really should have expected that kind of response.

“I don’t know why you won’t just give it a try,” he said. “What harm is it going to do, even if it doesn’t work?”

“I am not giving up on him, Rob,” Felipe said. “He’s made it this far and he’ll make it through this. If you don’t want to believe that then you can leave.”

 

Getting the doctor to come down was the hard part, but eventually the guard agreed to leave the five of them alone with the doctor, separated by the bars, of course.

“Now, will you tell me what it is?” the doctor asked. They’d refused to speak whilst the guard was in the room. “I am a busy, man, you know? I don’t have time for your games.”

“Have you figured out a way of curing him, yet?” Mark asked. He’d come right to the bars, looking down at the doctor who didn’t dare come any closer.

“I do not believe there is a way,” the doctor said, before adding quickly: “Medically, I mean.”

“And how do you figure he was cured before?” Mark asked.

The doctor shuddered, stepping back a little.

“God’s mercy?” Mark guessed. “Divine intervention. Nah, mate. We don’t have your God where I come from.”

The doctor’s eyes narrowed. “What did you do?”

“There’s a ritual,” Mark lied, and he continued with his plan with such conviction that he almost convinced Dan what he was saying was true. “All my men know of it. We could do it for you, if you want us to. Save his life again.”

“What kind of ritual?” the doctor asked. “If you’re bringing the devil aboard this ship.”

“Don’t work like that mate,” Mark said. “You think I would do it if I could get killed because of it? No, perfectly safe. It would need the five of us, though.”

“How convenient for you,” the doctor said.

“Convenient for you,” Mark pointed out. “Imagine if there were only four of us here. There would be nothing we could do for poor little Felipinho.”

“Teach us this ritual,” the doctor said.

“No can do,” Mark said, stepping back and crossing his arms. “Not in the time that Felipinho has left anyway. There are rituals you would have to do, assessments you would have to take, Gods you would have to speak to. Not enough time. Let us do it. Unless you would rather he die…”

Dan gulped. He didn’t like this plan. He didn’t like using Felipinho when he was ill, but if it worked… if it got Jev to safety… and it wasn’t as if they were harming Felipinho, was it? They were just getting out.

The doctor clearly didn’t trust them, but whether he believed them or not wasn’t as clear. Jev held his breath, waiting to hear what he would say. This really was there only way out and he was sure it would work.

“I’ll speak to his father and the captain,” the doctor said. “See what they say.”

 

_The sea monster swallowed him whole and he fell into a deep, dark hole. At least he was out of the water now, even if the floor was slimy. Slowly, he stood, trying to see if he could make out anything in the darkness, but it was just too dark. Suddenly, a red light shone from somewhere high above him, illuminating the entire hole before flashing off again._

_Felipinho froze, listening to silence and waiting for the red light to flash on again. It did, before disappearing after a couple more seconds._

_He was in a cave, or it looked like a cave in the few moments of light he got from the flashing light. Uncertainly, Felipinho shuffled out of the small puddle he was stood in, freezing as soon as the light flicked off again._

_This was worse than being underwater, and much, much worse than the beach._

_But there might be a way out, he thought. Maybe he could find a way out and find his parents and this whole thing would be over._

_Trying to stay out of puddles, and freezing every time the light turned off, Felipinho made his way through the cave. The entire thing was lit by the mysterious red light and, as long as he didn’t look too hard, there were no scary shadows._

_He curled his hands into fists, ready in case there were any more monsters down here._

“No,” Felipe said, definitely. If there was anything worse than the doctor going to a priest to save his son, it was the doctor going to a bunch of devil worshiping pirates to save his son.

“Felipe,” Rob tried, but it was useless.

Felipe shook his head. He wasn’t listening to any of this. Either they were going to look after Felipinho and make him better properly or he was going to find someone who would.

“They’ve done it before,” Rob said. He wasn’t going to let his friend throw away chances like that. Not if they could save Felipinho’s life. “They’ve done it before and they can do it again. This is tried and tested and it worked. Just let them do it again.”

“You really think they can help him?” Felipe snapped. “You think this is not some big trick. He would not even be ill if it was not for them. They do these rituals or whatever it is they say it is. Must have been cursed, them and their ship. And now they have done the same to Felipinho and I am not letting them do it again. No.”

“You would rather him die,” Rob cried, ignoring the doctor when he tried to get him to calm down. The doctor took that as his cue to leave, sliding out of the cabin and waiting until the argument was over before he saw to his patient again.

“Because that’s what this is you know,” Rob said, waving a hand at Felipinho on the bed. He still hadn’t woken up. He mumbled a little in his sleep, but nothing they could really make out. “If you don’t give this a try, there might not be another cure. You would rather him die than do something that goes against your beliefs. You don’t trust God. You’ve already said that. Let the pirates try.”

 

_It was getting a little lighter now, as if he was coming out of the cave, and Felipinho could see even when the red light surrounding him turned off. He couldn’t see where the new light was coming from, but hoped he was near the way out._

_He tried to stay out of the puddles as much as possible, staying on the slimy but drier path. He looked down into one of the puddles when the light from the end of the tunnel was bright enough for him to be able to see properly. His reflection looked back at him, confused. Behind his reflection, Felipinho could see the sky, but when he looked up there was only the strange, eerily red wall of the cave. When he looked back, his reflection was gone, replaced by the ghoul from before. The ghoul he’d seen stealing his family._

_Felipinho jumped back from the puddle, almost landing in another. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get out of here right now._

“Do you think they’ll agree?” Sebastian asked, quietly, watching the guard grow more and more bored the longer they waited.

“They definitely seem to be having a hard time convincing him,” Mark said.

A harder time than he had thought. For someone who was willing to offer as much as Felipe had and apparently chase them across the ocean, he was taking his time deciding. He was sure this would work though. Sebastian said there was no way they could save the child and if it seemed like they were the only option, then Felipe would come to them. He would have to.

Dan was sat in the corner, trying not to listen to his ship mates. This was all his fault, no matter what Jev had been trying to tell him before the Frenchman had given up. It was his fault they were stuck on this stupid ship and hadn’t been given the pardon Jev had wanted so badly. It was his fault they weren’t living the life Jev had planned for them. It was his fault they were stuck here and it was probably his fault Felipinho had fallen ill again.

Jev sighed as he sat next to his friend, putting an arm over his shoulders and ignoring the look he got from Jenson.

“It will be ok,” he promised, speaking as quietly as possible right into Dan’s ear. “I promise. I will not let you get hurt.”

“You won’t be able to do anything,” Dan said, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand. It was true, wasn’t it? What had Jev done when Alonso had tried to kill him? It wasn’t his fault, of course, but Dan wasn’t going to fall for his lies again. “I’m sorry.”

“Have nothing to be sorry for,” Jev lied, and he knew that, if Sebastian could hear him, the doctor would have scoffed, but he was not going to have Dan think this was his fault.

Dan smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes, only pushing the tears there further. He shook his head sadly and looked away.

“Are going to get out of this,” Jev promised. “Any moment now, they are going to come down here and call for us. Any moment now.”

 

_The light! He’d found where the light was coming from. It must have been the entrance to the cave or something like that, and it wasn’t that far away now. He’d get out, figure out a way back to the beach, and find his parents._

_Keeping away from any more puddles, Felipinho hurried towards the light, glad to leave the creepy cave alone. Anywhere had to be better than here, didn’t it?_

_Squinting against the light, Felipinho emerged back on the beach. Well, a beach. He couldn’t be sure it was the beach. There was nothing here, like the first beach, and nothing in the sea that lapped at the shore either. It definitely seemed a lot like the beach._

_Except there was something in the water. It was far away and Felipinho couldn’t see exactly what it was. But it looked like a person. A little kid. Like him. He didn’t like it. Yes, this was better than the creepy cave, but he still didn’t like it. He wanted to go home. He wanted to go back to Papa and his bed and his blankets like before…_

_Felipinho came further out of the cave, his feet sinking into the warm sand again, little bits getting stuck between his toes as he walked. It was definitely a kid standing in the water, calling back to someone on the beach…_

_No, he was imagining it. This had already happened._

_But there they were, on the beach. His parents, calling back to the little boy in the water that was not him. It could not be him._

_“Papa!” he called. He needed to get them away from the little boy in the water. It wasn’t safe._

_His parents turned around at the sound of his voice, Dan and Jev stepping out to see what they were looking at. The confused faces all broke into grins when they saw him, and his father held out his hands for him to run into._

_“You need to get away,” Felipinho called to them, rushing into his father’s arms. “It isn’t safe here.”_

_“What are you talking about,” his mother laughed, brushing bits of sand out of his hair whilst he sat in his father’s lap. “It’s perfectly safe here. You’re home now, Felipinho. It’s all over.”_

_His mother placed a kiss onto the top of his head and the others carried on talking but it all sounded blurry to him. He looked back into the water, at the boy that was definitely not him calling back._

_It wasn’t over. He didn’t know what it was, but it was definitely not over._


	19. Miracle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, this is a short chapter, but it's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

“If he dies, what will you tell his mother?” Rob asked. If there was anything that would change Felipe’s mind, it was the threat of his wife’s anger when she found out what he had done.

Felipe wasn’t looking at Rob, still holding onto Felipinho’s limp hand, tears soaking his cheeks as sweat soaked his son’s. Rob placed a hand on his friends shoulder, glancing up at the doctor who was waiting on the other side of the room, as if he might have some better luck trying to convince him.

Rob didn’t exactly like this, no more than he liked putting his faith in God and letting him decide what would happen to Felipinho. But if the doctor couldn’t do anything then they didn’t really have much choice. There was no use trying to get blood from a stone and Felipe had to see that.

“I will tell her, if you won’t,” Rob threatened after a short silence. Felipe didn’t react, so he continued. “I will tell her you abandoned him. I will tell her you searched for him like a mad man only to give up at the last hurdle. I will tell her there was a chance you could save his life but you said no.”

Felipe shook his head. “I don’t believe you.”

“She will deserve to know,” Rob said. “She will deserve to know what has happened to her son and what has happened to her husband, because you are not the same man as when you left her. The man who left her would never have let his son die.”

“I am not _letting_ him die,” Felipe said, bitterly, looking away at Felipinho to glare at Rob.

“Then what are you calling it?” Rob asked. “There is a tried and tested cure.”

“Devil rituals performed by a bunch of pirates?” Felipe said. “This is what you call a cure?”

“I think it’s the best we have, Felipe,” Rob said. “And I think Raffaela would agree with me.”

Felipe sighed and looked down at Felipinho again. He was definitely weaker, paler. Felipe hadn’t thought it was possible for his son to get any more ill than he was before but, watching Felipinho chest rise and fall slower and slower, he wasn’t so sure anymore.

He nodded, wiping his eyes on the back of his hand again.

“Ok,” he said, quietly. “Go and get them.”

 

The door at the top of the stairs opened again and Mark jumped up as someone clattered down the stairs. He glanced down at the four crew members still sat around him, hoping they would be as ready for the escape as he was. This would probably be there only chance, and he didn’t want to lose anyone else.

The doctor appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He glanced over at Mark, still as cautious as before, before speaking quietly and quickly as possible to the guard. They both glanced over at Mark and the other pirates a couple of times and Mark wanted to shrink away, but he held his ground.

They were getting out of here.

Eventually, the guard nodded, looking at Mark and his crew before leaving up the stairs again. The doctor approached the bars as nervously as he had done before, eyes locked on Mark’s and trying to seem braver than he looked. It wasn’t working.

“You can save him?” the doctor asked.

“You’ll have to wait and see, mate,” Mark said, folding his arms.

Jenson, sat on the floor beside Sebastian again, rolled his eyes. Of course, Mark had to show boat.

“Can you save him?” the doctor asked again.

“We did it before,” Mark said. “He survived then. We’ll do it again. If you want us to.”

“And he will stay well this time?” the doctor asked. “He will not fall ill again?”

“We can’t guarantee that,” Mark said. “But if you prey to your God and you take him away from whatever was making him ill then he’ll most likely stay alive for the time being.”

The doctor stepped back, still holding Mark’s eye. Mark tried to hide how much he was praying this was working.

“Alright,” the doctor said. “We’ll let you do your ritual.”

 

_Felipinho couldn’t take his eyes off of the little boy in the water, shouting at them as he was being pulled away from the beach. He sat on his father’s lap whilst his mother picked sand out of his hair, singing a lullaby that would usually make him go to sleep._

_Or it would have done before. Before he came here._

_“My beautiful little boy,” his mother whispered once the song was finished. “We have missed you whilst you were on your adventure. We have missed you so much.”_

_His vision blurred as tears filled his eyes. The boy in the sea disappeared beneath the ocean, and then he was gone._

_“Dan and Jev have been telling us all about it,” his father said. “Sounds very exciting. Were you a good boy for them, hmm?”_

_Felipinho opened his mouth to answer his parents, but no words came out. Tears rolled down his cheek, but he couldn’t make a sound._

_“You were a very good boy, weren’t you Felipinho?” Dan said, coming over. “Felipinho?”_

_He nodded, because no matter how hard he tried no words came out of his mouth. Dan smiled at him whilst his mother wiped the tears from him cheek, beginning another lullaby._

_“It is ok now,” his father said. “You are with us now. You are ok.”_  
  


The guard had returned with friends, which wasn’t in the original plan but wasn’t really unexpected either. Mark glanced over at Jenson, who was helping Sebastian up. The Brit gave him a small nod. They were ready, when the opportunity occurred. Dan and Jev looked less certain, but Mark knew Jev had been trying to convince his friend. This was as good as they were going to get.

The doctor led them out onto the deck, his steps nervous and uneven. If it weren’t for the other guards that were escorting them out, it would have been easy to make their escape. As it was, Mark and the rest of his crew were marched onto the deck surrounded by people.

The first chance they got, they were going to have to go for it. Mark got the feeling they weren’t going to get a second. Sebastian walked as close to him as possible; Mark could feel him shaking. He’d be easy to reach and pull along if Mark saw a spot.

It was too crowded in the small cabin with everyone there, and the pirates were left alone with the doctor, Rob, and Felipe. And Felipinho.

“Felipinho?” Dan asked, rushing over to the bed where Felipinho was lying.

“Hey,” Felipe snapped, but Rob stopped him from rushing over.

“He isn’t breathing,” Dan said, pulling Felipinho onto his lap. He watched Felipinho’s chest slowly rise and fall. He was breathing, but only just. “Hey, little man. Look who’s back. It’s Dan.”

“Go on then,” Felipe said, turning to the other pirates, who were standing by the door and looking as trustworthy as Felipe had expected them to look. “Go and do whatever it is you need to do.”

Nobody moved for a moment, not sure what to do now. The plan had been to get off of the ship before they got into the room and now they were here…

“Dan?”

Felipinho’s voice was barely a whisper, but audible in the silent room. Felipe’s head shot round from the pirates to where his son lay, struggling to open his eyes.

“Yeah, I’m here little man,” Dan said, speaking almost as quietly as Felipinho had done. “Right here. We’ve come to make you better again.”

Felipe was already sat next to down, looking between the pirates at the door and his son. He wanted to take Felipinho away from Dan. He wanted to be the one making him open his eyes at last, but if this was some part in the pirates ritual thing, he didn’t want to ruin it.

He watched Felipinho’s eyes roll up to look at Dan, the shadow of a smile on his face.

“Told Jev it was a good ship,” Felipinho whispered, his voice hoarse and his throat dry. “Told Jev they would have rescued me.”

“Yeah,” Dan said, softly. “Yeah, they did. You were right.”

“What did you do?” Rob asked, coming over. The doctor was next to him, shaking his head because this could not be happening. It wasn’t possible. “What have you done to him?”

Behind them, at the door, Mark tugged at Sebastian’s wrist. When Sebastian looked round, Jenson was already gone. He nodded, silently, and turned to Jev, but Jev’s eyes were on his friend.

“You have to tell him I was right,” Felipinho said.

“Tell him yourself,” Dan said, waving for Jev to come over. When he looked up, there were tears in his eyes. He knew he’d missed what was probably going to be there only chance off of the ship, but he didn’t care. “Jev?”

Jev came over, and Felipe moved out of the way so he could sit down. The Brazilian turned to Rob, unable to wipe the smile off of his face.

“He’s not the only one who’s right, is he?” Rob said, mirroring his friend’s grin.


	20. Get Away

“Well, where are they then? There are a hundred people on this ship and you managed to let them slip away?”

Felipe was trying not to listen to Rob outside, demanding to know where the missing pirates were. It was important – he knew it was important – but Felipinho had his eyes open again and was speaking again and the pirates could be steering the ship for all he cared.

“I missed you two,” Dan was saying, grinning down at Felipinho, his attempts to keep his tears from spilling down his face failing. “Thought I was never going to see either of you again.”

“That’s just silly,” Felipinho said.

“I know,” Dan said. “Sometimes grown ups are a little bit silly.”

“But we are all here now,” Jev said, standing behind Dan. “Safe and sound. So there is nothing to worry about.”

He glanced over at Felipe, but the trader wasn’t looking at them. Safe and sound wasn’t exactly safe and sound, and he knew it. Maybe Felipe would change his mind, after this, but Jev doubted it. If anything, he would be even angrier, once he snapped out of the awe, that the captain and the others had disappeared. And who would be the ones there to take that anger out on…

“Maybe you can come to my house for dinner now,” Felipinho said. “We have much nicer food than you do. We can give you some, can’t we Papa?”

He looked up at his father, expectantly. Felipe hurriedly wiped his eyes and nodded. “Maybe when you are a bit better, hey?”

“Yeah,” Dan said, quietly. “We wouldn’t want you to get ill again, would we?”

“I _am_ better,” Felipinho complained, before promptly bursting into a coughing fit and making all three adults laugh.

“Maybe we should let the doctor see about that,” Felipe said, glancing back at the doctor who was standing, stunned, in the corner.

The doctor was still nervous as he came over, even if he could see that there was no way Dan or Jev were going to do anything to him.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” the doctor said. The child should not have gotten better. He moved Dan over so he could sit on the bed beside Felipinho, checking the child’s temperature and heartbeat. He shook his head in disbelief, looking up suspiciously at the two pirates. “This does not make any sense. What did you do?”

“The same as we did last time,” Dan said with a shrug. He couldn’t explain it. He didn’t really understand it, and he didn’t understand why it mattered. Felipinho was better. Shouldn’t the doctor have been happy about that?

“Is he ok?” Felipe asked.

The doctor looked between Felipinho and the pirates again, still stunned.

“It would seem so,” he said, eventually.

“Then that is all that matters,” Felipe said.

 

By the time they arrived at the port, Mark, Sebastian, and Jenson still had not been found. Dan and Jev had been kept in the cabin with Felipinho, Felipe not sure if Felipinho’s recovery was down to them or not but not wanting to risk him getting any worse if it was down to the pirates. The rest of the ship was in search of the missing prisoners, and making it extremely difficult for them to get off of the ship once they’d docked.

Jenson ducked back down into their hiding place as another pair of sailors went past them. The gangway to the dock was in sight. Getting there wasn’t going to be easy for them, though.

“It’s no use,” Jenson said. “They’re not going to miss one of us passing, let alone all three.”

Mark leaned back. The gangway was so close. They were so close to getting out of this mess.

“We go overboard,” he said.

“We what?” Sebastian asked, already panicking.

It was the only way, or the only way Mark could think of. Over the edge of the ship and the three of them could swim ashore. Sebastian looked at him as if he were mad.

“You trust me, don’t you?” Mark said.

“Not really,” Sebastian said. “Not anymore.”

“What?” Jenson asked, looking back at his ship mates.

“Not now, Seb,” Mark muttered.

“What’s going on?” Jenson asked.

“He was planning on abandoning us,” Sebastian hissed.

Jenson’s mouth fell open and he made to reply when someone came past them and they all ducked down again, waiting for whoever it was to pass.

“You were what?”

“We will talk about it later,” Mark said. “Let’s just get off the ship first.”

 

“Come on,” Felipe said, lifting Felipinho off of the bed. “We can go home, mister. Mama has been missing you almost as much as I have.”

“Come on Dan, come on Jev,” Felipinho said, holding out his hand for his friends to follow them. “Mama makes the nicest, yummiest supper ever.”

“Dan and Jev are going to have to go now,” Felipe said, watching the guards approach the two pirates.

Jev put an arm protectively around Dan, as if that would stop them taking him away. Felipe gulped, the protectiveness hitting him in the stomach. Maybe following the rules would be a bit harsh on them, but they were the rules. The law. They were pirates and they deserved what they got.

“They can’t go,” Felipinho said, sadly. “They gave me food when you left me, Papa. We have to give them some food back.”

“They are bad people, Felipinho,” Felipe said, not bothering to correct his son (he had _not_ left him). He couldn’t look at either of the pirates or his son, who was now looking between his friends and his father, confused.

“Are not bad people, Papa,” he said, as if his father was stupid

“They are pirates,” Felipe said, gently. “Pirates are the bad guys, like in your stories. They are going to have to say goodbye now, and we’ll go home to Mama, yes? She can get you all cleaned up and then you can have your favourite food. That will be good, won’t it?”

“But…” Felipinho turned to Dan and Jev. They couldn’t just leave. It wasn’t fair. “But they made me better. They can’t be bad people if they made me better. They’re not real pirates like my stories. They’re _nice_.”

“I’m sorry,” Felipe said, and he wasn’t sure himself if he was speaking to Felipinho or Dan and Jev. “Let’s go.”

Felipinho was still reaching out for his friends, who waited with the guards. Jev’s arm around Dan tightened a little. He would come up with a way out of this. He didn’t know how. His coming up with ways out of things hadn’t worked so far. But he would do it.

They’d already been punished enough for this.

 

Over the mumble of noise as men continued to search for the pirates and unload the ship there was a splash. Rob frowned and followed the group of men to the side of the ship to gaze into the water. A box of supplies floated, swaying with the gentle waves, with a few apples bobbing out of it.

“Have you found the pirates yet?” Rob asked, not taking his eyes off the water as the other men moved away.

“Not yet, sir, no.”

“Then wait here,” Rob said, pulling the sailor back to the edge of the ship.

Boxes of apples didn’t just throw themselves overboard.

Rob’s hand was his pistol as he waited to see what would come of his suspicion.

“What’s the matter?” the sailor said after a couple of moments of silent watching.

“They’re swimming ashore,” Rob said, hoping he was right. If they hadn’t come up for air yet, they must have swum away. “Go and get somebody to tell the coast guards. They can’t get away.”

“Dan!”

Rob spun to find his first mate chasing Felipinho across the ship to where the guards were escorting the remaining pirates away.

The little Brazilian wrapped himself around Dan’s leg and refused to let go.

“Come on, Felipinho,” Felipe said with a sigh. “They have to go now.”

“They are _not_ bad people, Papa,” Felipinho said, dragging Dan, Jev, and the guards to a halt. “They are my friends and you are going to hurt them.”

“We’re not.”

“You are.”

“He’s recovered,” somebody beside Rob muttered, but they ducked their head and hurried away to continue their work when Rob glared at them.

“We are not going to hurt them, Felipinho,” Felipe said, gently. “Come with me.”

“You _are_ ,” Felipinho said, again. “You are because you think they’re bad guys and they’re not. You don’t even know them Papa.”

“Felipinho,” Rob said, hurrying over. “Felipinho, come here. Nothing bad is going to happen to them. I promise.”

Felipinho looked up at Rob, curiously.

“You promise?”

“Yep,” Rob said. “They’ll get somewhere to stay, yeah? An inn?”

The child looked between his father and Rob, then up at Dan and Jev. He didn’t know if he trusted them or not, but if Rob promised.

“Alright,” he said, quietly, letting go of Dan’s leg. “But you better not hurt them,” he told the guard. “Or my Uncle Rob will come for you.”

Felipe quickly scooped his son up, hurrying him away into the cabin. Rob sighed and nodded to the guard. Felipinho would forget, he figured.

Two pirates down, three to go.


	21. Hopelessness

It was hopeless. There really was no way out of this now. Dan and Jev had been taken to another little cell somewhere in the port. Waiting for the trial. Or execution. Neither of them really knew what to expect first.

Felipinho had tried his hardest, but it wasn’t good enough. They’d known when they’d been taken off of the ship there would be no inn or pardon, whatever Smedley had said only having been said to keep Felipinho quiet.

“I’m sorry,” Dan said, quietly. Jev’s hand rested in his, but neither of them were looking at each other. Jev didn’t react, staring blankly at the wall opposite them. He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to comfort Dan, to tell him that everything was going to be ok. But there was no way out of this anymore. Saying sorry over and over again wasn’t going to work.

“I want to go home,” Dan said, quietly. He didn’t know if he was talking to Jev or himself, or why he speaking at all, but he couldn’t sit in the silence, staring at the wall, any longer. “I want to go back to how it was before. Excitement and adventure is… is…”

“Is fun when we are not being killed,” Jev said, his voice smaller than Dan had ever heard it before.

Dan looked across to him, blinking back tears. There was no “we’ll get out of this”. No hope. No comforting comments. Jev had given up.

“What do we do now,” he asked. He gulped when Jev just shook his head.

“Wait,” he said, quietly.

 

“Won’t they be looking for us?” Sebastian asked as Mark led the three of them into a bar hidden deep in the back alleys of the port town. It wasn’t the kind of place Sebastian was used to, and he felt uncomfortable enough with Mark now as it was without being in a place like this and without the authorities coming after them.

Mark found them a table in the corner, other people shifting out of their seats to make room for them, and Jenson headed to the bar to get them something to drink.

“They won’t be looking here,” Mark promised. He doubted they would spend too much time searching for them once they figured out the three of them were no longer on the boat. The traders had the child back, and they had Dan and Jev. They couldn’t be that concerned with the rest of them to waste time and money looking for them.

“And you are sure about that?” Sebastian asked.

“I have done this kind of thing before, mate,” Mark snapped. “I know how these things work.”

When Jenson returned with the drinks, it was clear Mark wasn’t going to get any support from him, either. They still hadn’t spoken about Mark’s plans for the future, but he got the feeling that silence wouldn’t last long.

“Before you say anything,” Mark said, taking the drink. “I wasn’t abandoning you.”

“Then what was your plan?” Jenson asked. “Or did Seb just make it all up?”

“I…” At one point, Mark had known exactly how he was going to tell his crew his plans for the future, but then Alonso and the traders had arrived, and the situation had changed. He was no longer in any way sure of himself. “The plan was to take you to Port Elizabeth and explain there, but that isn’t a possibility anymore.”

“No, it isn’t,” Jenson said, annoyed. “What were _you_ going to do?”

“He has a child,” Sebastian said, before Mark could continue with whatever explanation he had had. “He has a child and he was going to abandon us to go and live with the child and it’s mother.”

“A child?” Jenson cried.

“Keep your voice down,” Mark hissed. There were people here who recognised him. There were people here who had heard stories about him and, though Mark didn’t play up to any of the images of him like Alonso suggested he did, there were some things that didn’t need to become public knowledge, even if the rumours were already about.

“You have a child?” Jenson said again, quieter this time.

“Not yet,” Mark said. “But in a few months, yes. And I am going to be a father to it.”

“You? An honest man?” Jenson said. “You’re not serious, mate.”

“It would have been easier if Alonso had not taken everything I had,” Mark admitted. “But yes, I am serious.”

“See?” Sebastian said. “He has gone insane.”

Jenson shook his head. He understood. Or at least he did. He’d been with Mark for a long time and he understood how the Australian’s mind worked. If he had a responsibility, he would take care of it, even if he would much rather he didn’t have to. When Jenson didn’t understand was why Mark had told Sebastian. He knew the doctor and the captain were close – unusually close – but he could also see Mark had regretted that decision. It didn’t make any sense.

“He does not even care about this woman,” Sebastian said.

“I do,” Mark cut in. “And what I do with my life and why is nothing to do with either of you two. I have made m decision.”

“To abandon us,” Sebastian added, crossing his arms like a stroppy teenager.

Jenson looked between Mark and Sebastian, the unfamiliar feeling that there was more going on here than he knew growing at the bottom of his stomach. He swigged the drink he’d brought, deciding it best to keep out of their business.

Mark rolled his eyes. “It is not abandoning you. When we get to Port Elizabeth, you will find employment elsewhere. You could find employment here, if you looked. You don’t need me, Seb. Don’t act like you do.”

“What are you going to do?” Jenson asked. There was no way the captain was just going to fall into life ashore. Jenson couldn’t picture Mark getting a legal job, doing right by this woman and their child. It didn’t suit him.

“It would have been easier without Alonso coming along,” Mark admitted. He’d had a plan then. He probably had enough to keep a quiet little life with the woman and the baby, modest and simple but private too. Now, there was none of that. There was an opportunity though. It was unlikely to work and would need both Jenson and Sebastian to work with him, and a lot of luck, but there was an opportunity. “I have a plan.”

“What kind of plan?” Sebastian asked, suspiciously. He didn’t like this. Sure, Mark had managed to get them away from the traders, but he still wasn’t entirely certain they were in the clear yet. He just wanted to disappear and start fresh somewhere else now.

“A shit one,” Mark said. “But, if it works, it’ll get all three of us a lot of money.”

“That fills me with hope,” Jenson said, used to a little more optimism from his friend.

“What kind of plan?” Sebastian asked again.

“It would rely on two things,” Mark said. “The first, is that you two trust me, and will follow me.”

“Ha,” Sebastian said, throwing his hands up into the air. He glared at Mark across the table, trying to make it as clear as possible that he didn’t trust the Australian as far as he could throw him.

Mark turned to Jenson, unsure what to expect. He’d gotten the Brit into a lot worse than this, but he’d never told him he was going to “abandon” him. He didn’t know if he still had Jenson’s loyalties.

“How likely is it that it’s going to work?” Jenson asked.

“Not very,” Mark admitted. “Well, depending on the second thing, possibly. I think we can pull it off.”

“The second things?” Jenson asked.

Mark shook his head. “No, I need to know now if you will both follow me. You’ll be paid. I imagine we’ll get… we’ll definitely get a lot for this.”

“You know I will,” Jenson said. “But the second thing?”

“Sebastian?” Mark asked, turning to the doctor.

Sebastian folded his arms, glaring at Mark. “I’m not helping you.”

“Don’t be stupid, Seb,” Jenson said, patting the younger man on the back. “You know we’d be dead right now if it weren’t for ideas like this, don’t you.”

“He is _abandoning_ us, Jenson,” Sebastian said, waving a hand at Mark. He couldn’t believe Jenson was just going to go along with this. Like he didn’t even care what happened to them. His loyalty to the precious captain would mean nothing once Mark got what he wanted, and Jenson had to know that.

“Pull yourself together, Seb,” Jenson said. “We don’t need looking after. We’ll find something else.”

“I am not helping,” Sebastian insisted.

“Fine,” Mark said, holding up his hands. “Then we don’t do it. It’s your decision. I’ll figure something out. I always do.”

“What’s the second thing?” Jenson asked again, unable to shake his curiousness.

Mark shook his head and turned to his drink again. It didn’t matter anymore. He would need the both of them in order for his plan to work, and he didn’t want Jenson to get any ideas about doing it alone.

“Sebastian,” Jenson said, trying to convince his friend.

Mark watched the doctor pout, unconvinced. It wasn’t going to work, and he was going to have to come up with something else. Maybe he could just start a normal, quiet life once the baby came. He didn’t have much confidence in how well that would work for him, but there was a chance.

“Whatever has gone on between the two of you, you need to put it behind you now,” Jenson said. He knew from experience Mark’s first ideas were usually his best and he wasn’t going to let Sebastian ruin whatever chances they had of getting money before the three of them split up.

“What do you mean?” Sebastian asked, turning his glare on to Jenson.

“I mean, if you feel abandoned, fine,” Jenson said. “But can you think about _now_ for a moment?”

Mark watched the two of them argue silently, drinking his drink. Sebastian’s face turned redder and redder the more they argued and Mark was sure he might explode if he didn’t give in soon, as Jenson didn’t look to have any intention of giving in. The captain nodded to himself. He’d chosen to save the right man.

“I want paying,” Sebastian said, turning to Mark and pulling the Australian out of his thoughts.

“You’ll get a cut,” Mark told him.

“How much?” Sebastian said.

“An equal cut,” Mark said.

“How much?” Sebastian said. “I want a number.

“Well, that would all depend on how much we can get,” Mark said, crossing his arms. “But that shouldn’t be too little. Think of a number, Seb, and we’ll ask for it.”

“What is this plan?” Sebastian asked, suspiciously. He didn’t like the sound of it. If Mark was planning on taking goods or something, wouldn’t he already know how much they were going to get.

“Are you going to trust me?” Mark asked again.

Sebastian sighed, impatiently, but nodded. It was the only way he was going to get any answers.

“So what’s the second things?” Jenson asked.

Mark sighed. This was the point. This was the moment when both of them would lose all faith in the plan, because it was a long shot and he knew it.

“Mark?” Jenson prompted.

“The plan depends on whether or not Felipinho Massa is still alive.”  


 

“Mummy is on her way,” Felipe explained to his son, tucking him into the bed and checking his head again. He didn’t want to know what the pirates had done to him to bring him out of the fever. He was going to blame God for the miracle and plead ignorance if it turned out to be something more sinister. “She will be here when you wake up. She has missed you lots.”

“Miss her too,” Felipinho mumbled, sleepily. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to go to sleep just yet. He didn’t want the dream to come back.

“And I am sure she would like to hear all about your adventure,” Felipe said, brushing Felipinho’s hair out of his eyes.

“And she can meet Dan and Jev,” Felipinho said, letting his eyes slip closed.

Felipe’s hand stilled for a moment. “Yeah,” he said, eventually, pretty sure Felipinho was already asleep. “Yeah, she can.”

He’d forget about them eventually. Soon enough, the last few months would just be a dream to him, and then it would be gone.

“Sleep tight,” Felipe whispered, pressing a kiss to Felipinho’s forehead before standing.

“Papa?” Felipinho called, just as Felipe reached the door.

“Yeah?”

“Could you open the window?” Felipinho asked, wriggling further down, into the covers.

“Sure,” Felipe said, pushing the window open and letting the cool night air in. “Good night.”

“Good night.”


	22. Kidnapping

“I know, but we can’t just…” Rob sighed. He couldn’t even tell if Felipe was listening to what he was saying. He shook his head, putting away the papers he had been looking through before the conversation started. “We can’t just pardon them. We don’t have the power.”

Felipe nodded. He’d thought it would be something like that. “We go to the governor then. We explain what has happened, what they have done and how they have helped. We cannot just let them die without any reward. They saved his life.”

“I know,” Rob said. “And if it were down to me, I would let them go, but it _isn’t_.”

“Can convince the governor,” Felipe said. “You are his son in law, no? What if it were your son? He would pardon them then.”

“He and I aren’t exactly best of friends, Felipe,” Rob pointed out. He shook his head again. He _wanted_ to help them because this wasn’t really fair, but there was nothing they could do. Dan and Jev were pirates. They could be nice people, Rob didn’t know, but they were still pirates. The rules were put in place to protect people, and nobody could just ignore them and get away with it. That wasn’t how life worked.

“Have to do something,” Felipe said. “Is going to break his heart.”

“He can go home with his mother tomorrow,” Rob said. “He doesn’t need to know. We can just say that the pirates have gone off, on their way.”

“You know Felipinho,” Felipe said. “Will not settle for that. Will want to see them, say goodbye or something.”

“We will have to tell him something,” Rob said. “Felipe there is nothing we can do.”

“Have to _try_ ,” Felipe said. “Please, Rob. Is not going to do anything if you go to the governor and he says no, is it?”

“Felipe, I can’t just-.”

A crash from up the stairs stopped him and they both looked to the stairs.

 

“Oops,” Jenson muttered, kicking the glass and unlit candle out of the way.

The three of them froze, listening for any sound from down stairs. On the bed, Felipinho was beginning to wake up, sleepily rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

“Felipinho?”

“Well done, Jenson,” Sebastian muttered.

Mark looked quickly around the room, not letting himself panic. “Seb, back outside and down into the street.”

“What?”

“Now, don’t argue,” Mark said, watching Sebastian go back out of the window.

“What’s going on?” Felipinho asked, sleepily. Maybe it was all a dream. It seemed like a dream. A very strange one, but not the strangest he’d ever had.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Jenson said, gently, trying to calm Felipinho down.

“Get him out the window,” Mark said, glancing out of the door to see if anyone was coming.

“You think Sebastian can catch him?” Jenson asked, pulling Felipinho out of the bed.

“I think he’s going have to,” Mark said. There was nobody coming yet, but they were going to have to leave soon.

“What’s going on?” Felipinho asked again. “Papa!”

“Out the window,” Mark hissed.

There was definitely someone coming now, the sound of footsteps thundering up the stairs clear to hear. Jenson scooped the child up, a hand over his mouth to muffle his calls for help. This wasn’t right, but it wouldn’t be for long, he told himself. He leaned out the window, glad to see Sebastian down in the street, squinting up at them.

“You’re going to have to catch him,” Jenson called down. “Ow!”

“Papa!” Felipinho called when Jenson pulled his hand away to examine the bite. “Papa!”

“What?” Sebastian cried. He hadn’t expected any of this. “I cannot-.”

“Oi!” On the other side of the street, a man leaned out of the upstairs window, trying to see what all the fuss was about.

Jenson ignored him, pulling a squirming child out of the window and letting him drop, preying Sebastian actually caught him, before looking back into the room. Mark had his back against the door, stopping whoever was trying to get in.

“Get something to block it,” Mark instructed, but there wasn’t much around the room to block the door, besides themselves. This wasn’t part of the plan. Felipinho was never supposed to wake up.

Jenson dragged the bed over, hoping that would be enough, but he wasn’t at all confident. They were just going to have sprint for the window.

“We go on three,” Mark said, eyes on the window Jenson had left open. “One- two- three!”  


“You have to let me go otherwise my papa and my Uncle Rob will come and they will get you and you will be put in prison for a very very long time and the only thing you will be able to eat is rats and if you don’t let me go right now I am going to scream and then they will know where I am so you let me go right now- PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPAAAAAAAAA-!”

Sebastian clamped a hand over the boy’s mouth again, peering round the corner and waiting for Jenson and Mark to come their way. This was a stupid plan and it was never going to work.

“You have to stay quiet, or the police will get _you_ ,” Sebastian hissed. “They think you are a pirate too and they are going to put you in prison with the rats.”

Felipinho’s reply was muffled by Sebastian’s hand over his mouth, but the child stopped squirming. Sebastian sighed, leaning back out of the ally they were hiding in. He’d already seen a couple of people pass, chasing after them but missing their hiding place. Maybe Mark and Jenson had passed too and he’d somehow managed to miss them. Or they’d been caught.

“Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.”

Sebastian’s hand fell away from the child’s mouth and Felipinho immediately started screaming again and Sebastian replaced his hand.

“Do you want them to find you?” Sebastian asked. “They will put you in prison like they did with Dan and Jev. Do you want that?”

Felipinho froze and frowned again, confused. Dan and Jev were safe. They were in an inn, somewhere safe. Rob had told him so.

“We have come to save you,” Sebastian lied. Mark hadn’t given him anything to say to the kid, but if he could just get him to stay quiet until they came, Sebastian didn’t really care. “You don’t want to be eating any of those rats, do you?”

Felipinho shook his head, tears beginning to form in his eyes. They wouldn’t really send him to prison, would they? He was too little to go to prison, and he hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Right,” Sebastian said, glancing back out of the alley. Where on earth were Jenson and Mark? “I’m going to move my hand now. And if you scream I will leave you here, and the police will get you. Do you understand?”

Felipinho nodded, tears beginning to roll down his face now.

Sebastian hesitated a moment, not sure if he could trust the child, but took his hand away.

“I just want to go home. This isn’t fair. I didn’t do anything wrong and why do they think I did and where are Dan and Jev? Uncle Rob said they were safe and he can’t lie to me because he’s not allowed. Please. I just want to go home.”

“Hey, it’s ok,” Sebastian said, gently. “Someone is talking to the police now. They are going to let them know the truth, and then you can go home, alright?”

“You promise?” Felipinho asked, sniffing and wiping his eyes on the back of his hand.

“I promise,” Sebastian said. He leaned out of the alley way again, looking both ways. The street was empty now, and Mark and Jenson were still nowhere to be seen.

“What are you looking for?” Felipinho asked.

“My friends,” Sebastian said. They weren’t coming. They’d been caught and _now_ what was he supposed to do. They had a place to stay – above the bar Mark had come up with his plan in – and Sebastian knew he should probably take Felipinho there, but something was stopping him. They still had a chance, didn’t they?

“Are Dan and Jev with you?” Felipinho asked. He missed them, and what Sebastian had said about them didn’t make much sense.

“No,” Sebastian said. “I don’t know where they are.”

“Sebastian?” Felipinho said, yawning. “Sebastian, I’m tired.”

Sebastian sighed, lifting the child up with a quiet grunt. He was going to have to go now and hope they’d made their way back to the bar.

“Come on then,” Sebastian said, quietly, heading back down into the alley. Hopefully he could find the right way back.

 

“Come and get some sleep,” Jev said, pulling Dan down to rest the Australian’s head in his lap.

“I’m fine,” Dan promised. He didn’t want to go to sleep. He didn’t know how much time he had left and he didn’t want to waste a moment of it sleeping. Not that he had much else to do.

“It’s ok,” Jev said, running his fingers through Dan’s hair, tugging gently when they got caught in his curls, making sure Dan didn’t feel it. “Nothing’s going to happen whilst you’re asleep.”

“You’ll wake me up before it does?” Dan asked, peering up at the Frenchman.

Jev nodded, humming gently and letting his own eyes slide shut. “I will not let anything happen to you.”

“Too late for that, mate,” Dan mumbled. He couldn’t stand to look at Jev when the Frenchman looked so hopeless, and closed his own eyes.

“I will figure something out,” Jev promised. “Haven’t I always?”

“Uh huh.”

It was no good. Jev could say whatever he wanted to, but that wasn’t going to change anything. They weren’t go anywhere.

Jev sighed, his hand stilling for a moment in Dan’s hair. He needed the Australian to sleep. All this hanging around and waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen wasn’t good for him. If he could just get Dan to relax… if he could get him to go to sleep and dream away whatever time they had left… that had to be better than worrying, didn’t it?

“When I first met you,” he said, his hand resuming it’s soothing strokes through the Australian’s curls. “When I first met you, I hated you.”

Dan snorted, laughing in surprise more than anything else. He opened his eyes and looked up at Jev, but the Frenchman’s eyes were still closed, and he let his eyes slide shoot again.

Jev smiled. “I did. I could not help it. You were everything they always taught me not to be. Happy and enthusiastic and not afraid to speak your mind. And you got away with it. And I hated it so much. Because I wanted to do all that, but I was too scared.”

“When I first met you, I thought you were a snobby git,” Dan said, honestly.

Jev tutted, but the smile was still on his face.

“We were both wrong then,” he said, quietly.

“Hmmm,” Dan said.

“I would not be here if it was not for you,” Jev said, letting himself relax a little.

“Thanks,” Dan muttered, sarcastically.

“No,” Jev said. “Not like that. I mean… My life would be boring without you. I do not know how much longer I could have gone counting boxes of beans if you had not come along. With your funny accent and your smile. You were like…” Jev huffed, trying to come up with the right words, but there weren’t any. “You’re special.”

He opened his eyes, hoping Dan might have gone to sleep, but the Australian was just looking up at him. There was something in his eyes that Jev couldn’t describe, but it only made him feel all the more hopeless.

“We will get out of this,” he said, more for himself than for Dan. There would be no convincing Dan, but if he could just convince himself…

“I’m glad it’s you,” Dan said, sitting up a little and turning to face Jev.

“What’s me?” Jev asked.

“I’m glad it’s you with me,” Dan said.

“I’m glad it’s me with you too,” Jev said, quietly, watching Dan’s eyes drop away from him again. It was no use. There was no way he was going to get the Australian to go to sleep. Maybe it would be better for him, but Dan seemed much more content just sitting talking. Jev wasn’t sure what they had left to talk about anymore – what could be said that would really matter – but if it would make Dan happier, he would sit with him too. It wasn’t his worst option to spend the next couple of hours or so.

“You were though,” Dan said.

“I was what?” Jev asked.

“A snobby git,” Dan said. “Or you acted like it, anyway.”

“I do not think you have ever met a snobby git in your life,” Jev laughed, making Dan smile too. “Either that or they were not very good at being snobby, if you thought the boy from the workhouse was snobby.”

“You- you weren’t-.”

Jev nodded, not waiting for Dan to finish his fragmented sentence. The Australian frowned at him, a little confused. Jev had never delved into his childhood too much. Dan had never questioned it, never even realised.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Jev said. There was a reason he hadn’t spoken about it.

Dan sighed, moving around to sit beside Jev again.

“I love you,” he said quietly. “Once I realised you weren’t a snobby git-.”

A door opening someone down the hall stopped Dan’s speech in his tracks and they both looked up. Before either could stand to try to see what was going on, the door to the cell opened.


	23. Panic

Sebastian just nodded to the bar man who let him through to the backroom and then upstairs to the living quarters. He couldn’t remember the man’s name, but he had seemed to know Mark fairly well, and didn’t say a word as he let Sebastian passed with a sleeping child in his arms.

The noise of the bar down stairs didn’t wake Felipinho, and Sebastian had begun to worry that his mysterious illness may be back, but there was no sign of it. He lay the child down on the bed in the little room Mark had announced would be theirs for the duration of his plan.

Mark and Jenson were not back yet.

“What do I do?”

He hadn’t even wanted to go ahead with this stupid plan in the first place. He’d told them it was too risky. He’d told them they were better off finding another way. But no, Mark had insisted the boy’s father would have enough money to pay up whatever they wanted and, as long as everything went to plan. But everything hadn’t gone to plan, had it? Somewhere along the lines they must have fucked up and now he was stuck with this kid and he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

The doctor glared down at Felipinho, sleeping soundly. This was all _his_ fault. They would never have gotten caught in the first place if it weren’t for the child. They wouldn’t have been sailing back up to Montefiore if it weren’t for the child, and then they wouldn’t have been caught by Alonso. If Felipinho had just died when Sebastian had said he should have died, none of this would have happened.

Sebastian took a deep breath, turning away from the child. There was no need to overreact. Mark and Jenson would be back soon. They’d gotten out of worse scraps than this, hadn’t they? That’s what they always said. He didn’t have anything to worry about.

 

“They have taken Felipinho,” Felipe said, watching the guard fumble with the keys.

“They?” Dan asked, panicking almost as much as Felipe was. “Who’s they?”

“Your so called friends,” Felipe snapped. “You must know where they have gone? Know where they have taken him.”

This wasn’t fair. He’d only just gotten him back. He was back, and healthy and fine. And if his mother came back and found anything other than that, Felipe was scared what she would do. She had been even more distraught than he had been when she found out what had happened before. If she knew he had been taken again…

“What do you mean they have taken him?” Dan asked, shaking his head. Felipinho was safe. That was the only good thing that had come out of this mess. Felipinho was safe and they didn’t have to worry about him and _how_ had Felipe managed to ruin that.

“They have kidnapped him,” Felipe snapped, frustrated. Why couldn’t they just cooperate? Was it really hard to think about someone else for once? “They are demanding an extortionate amount of money. We cannot just hand that over to pirates and kidnappers. Where. Are. They.”

Dan looked between Felipe and Jev as the guard opened the door to let them out. He shook his head again, not believing this was happening.

“Rob is speaking with the governor,” Felipe said, in explanation. “You find Felipinho safe and sound and we will get you the pardon. Or that is what we are trying for, anyway.”

“A pardon?” Jev asked, in almost as much disbelief as Dan was. “You are serious?”

Felipe nodded. “It was what we are trying for. Rob is not sure if he can convince the governor, but if not we can…” He glanced over at the guard, who was waiting dutifully behind him. He gulped and nodded to himself, knowing he could not say anymore. “If not we can figure something out. But you must find Felipinho.”

“We’ll do it,” Jev said, knowing what figuring something out would involve. “Dan?”

“We don’t know where he is,” Dan said, honestly. They didn’t know Montefiore anymore than they knew any of the other port they had stopped at. They didn’t know where the captain would have taken the child or even where he would have gone alone.

“We will find him,” Jev assured him. “We can go now?”

“You are not going alone,” Felipe said. They had already let three pirates sneak off, and look what mess that had gotten them in. He was not going to let that happen again. “I am coming with you.”

 

The knock at the door made Sebastian jump away from the bed. He’d barely been able to get his head together and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking. Mark and Jenson were coming back, he kept telling himself. They were coming back. They didn’t have a choice.

“Come in.”

It was not Mark or Jenson who pushed open the door, but the man who had shown him up to the room in the first place.

“A message,” the bar man said. “From Webber.”

“Is he here?” Sebastian asked, hopefully. Mark would know what to do and they would be out of this mess in no time.

The bar man shook his head and Sebastian’s face fell. “No, but he sent a message. Said you’re to take yourself and the brat to Port Elizabeth. He’ll meet with you there.”

“How am I supposed to get to Port Elizabeth?” Sebastian asked. That was miles away, at least half a day’s travelling by cart. He couldn’t get himself there and Felipinho, not without being discovered.

The barman just shrugged. “That’s all the message said.”

“Why’s he gone to Port Elizabeth?” Sebastian asked. This was insane. He was a doctor, not a fucking smuggler. At no point had he signed up to any of this. And what on earth had happened to make them flee all the way there anyway? No, he didn’t like this. This was worse than not knowing what was going on.

“That is all the message said,” the bar man said again, clearly annoyed.

Sebastian closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He would be ok. He just needed to stay calm.

“Can you get me a passage there or something? A cart. Anything.”

“Not without payment,” the bar man said, folding his arms.

“Webber will give you your fucking money, I just need to get it from him,” Sebastian snapped. He wasn’t good at this staying calm thing, was he?

“Sebastian?”

Felipinho looked up grumpily from the bed where he’d been woken up.

“Can I go home now?” he asked, confused as to how he had even gotten here in the first place.

“No, not yet,” Sebastian said. “We have to travel to another place whilst the policemen decide what to do. But you’ll be ok?”

“I’m not going to jail?” Felipinho asked. “You said I wasn’t going to have to go to jail.”

“You won’t,” Sebastian insisted, sitting down beside him. God, how had he gotten into this mess? He was going to kill Webber as soon as this was all sorted out.

“I’ll see what I can do,” the bar man said, nodding to Sebastian before leaving the room.

“I’m going to be ok, aren’t I?” Felipinho asked, watching the stranger leave.

“Yeah,” Sebastian said, gently. “Yeah, you just go back to sleep, yeah? You’re going to be ok?”

 

“A pardon?”

Rob knew it was hopeless. He’d tried to tell Felipe that. Dan and Jev probably didn’t even know where the child had been taken. It wasn’t that he _wanted_ to give up. Of course he didn’t want to. After everything that had happened, Rob was willing to accept that miracles did indeed happen. But there was no way he was going to be able to convince his father in law to give the pirates a pardon.

“Yes sir.”

“This is for the child I have already spent a huge amount of money to find,” the governor said. “You do realise I lost enough when you gave the ship to the pirates in the first place, don’t you?”

“Yes, _sir_ ,” Rob said, through gritted teeth. It was no use arguing that that hadn’t been his fault. He wouldn’t listen.

“I don’t think you do,” the governor said. “Just because I have money, Rob, does not mean I can spend it on everything and nothing. Do you understand? I have businesses to run and a reputation to keep. I have already spent a fortune on this child, which you have misplaced once again.”

“He was _kidnapped_ ,” Rob said. “Not misplaced. And I’m not asking you to pay a random. Just a small bribe to let them go. You’re not making any money by having them killed. You’re not getting anything that you’ve lost back.”

“That is not the point,” the governor snapped. “Do you think it would be good for business for me to be seen as a push over? For me to ‘forgive’ people who have stolen from me?”

“If it were Frankie or Felix, you would do it,” Rob pointed, and he hadn’t wanted to stoop that low but his father in law wasn’t listening to a word he was saying.

“My daughter would never put her children in that situation,” the governor said.

“We didn’t _put_ Felipinho in that situation,” Rob said through gritted teeth.

“That is not the way I see it.”

“You were not there,” Rob snapped. “You were not aboard that ship. Six men died and we were lucky it was not any more. We thought Felipinho was on the boats. We thought he was safe. Going back and getting him or defending any of our stock would have been suicide. You would rather your grandchildren grow up without a father than lose some bags of tobacco.”

“An _entire ship,_ Rob,” the governor said. “And if their father is a useless waste of space then yes, I would.”

“Right then,” Rob said, nodding. It was no use. They were going to have to come up with another way to find Felipinho. He just hoped Felipe hadn’t already gone ahead with plan A.

 

Felipinho was wrapped in a bundle of blankets Mark was going to have to pay for at some point. Rain was coming down in sheets as Sebastian carried the child across the small access road and into the back of the carriage. He was soaked through his clothes even in the sort time that took, regretting every decision he’d made in his life that had led to this point more and more every second that passed. It had better be worth it, he though, as the carriage started rolling. This plan had better work.

“Sebastian?” Felipinho asked, sitting beside the doctor and pulling the blankets tighter around himself.

“Go to sleep, Felipinho,” Sebastian said, his own eyes closed. He thought he might be able to get a little sleep before they arrived at Port Elizabeth and was looking forward to resting his pounding head.

“Can’t sleep,” Felipinho said. “Too bumpy.”

“Well just close your eyes, be quiet, and pretend,” Sebastian said, too tired to snap at him. The last thing he needed right now was a crying child on his hands and he was thankful when Felipinho did as he was told, resting his head on Sebastian’s lap.

Sebastian closed his own eyes, resting his head against the side of the carriage and trying to ignore the fact it felt like his brain was rattling around inside his skull. It wouldn’t be long, he told himself. Not long until they got their money and he could get on with his life somewhere far away from any of this.

 


	24. Running

Part of him wanted to run. Felipe was watching them closely as they wandered about with no idea how they were supposed to find Felipinho in this mess of a town, but Jev knew it wouldn’t take long for them to get away. The trader’s attention would just need to be elsewhere for a fraction of a second and they were gone, and Jev was pretty sure he could come up with a distraction.

They would be off the hook and away in a matter of minutes. It shouldn’t be that hard for them to find some work in a place like this. People were always looking for hard workers who could read and write and, though Dan wasn’t a huge fan of hard work if he was given the choice, Jev knew they could really make it work if they tried. That life together Jev had been enjoying so much before Dan had gone off on his adventure was almost within reach again.

But that was never going to happen. They were never going to run. Dan, even though he had no idea what he was doing, was doing his best to come up with places they could look, and convincing him to give up the search would be impossible. And Jev wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to either.

“This is hopeless,” he said, quietly. They could barely see through the rain anymore and there was nobody in the street to ask. Neither of them knew this town and they weren’t close enough to the Captain to have any idea what he would have done with the child.

“Is not hopeless,” Felipe replied, following Dan as he wandered down another alleyway. “Is only hopeless when you give up trying.”

It couldn’t be hopeless. The amount of times over the past few months he had been convinced he would never see his son alive again, and look how that had turned out. For a while. Nothing was hopeless until he stopped trying.

“We do not even know if they are even still in this town,” Jev said, falling for a stop. “Is not that I do not want to find him. Of course I want to find him. But I do not think wandering around and hoping we are going to spot him is going to work.”

 _Worked before_ , Felipe thought.

“What did you say?” Dan asked, jogging back to his friend.

“What?” Jev asked. “That he might not be in this town.”

“Where do all the pirates go?” Dan asked, his usual grin back. “Where do they go when they want some place to hide? When they want anything?”

Jev stared back at him, as confused as before. “How should I know?”

“Port Elizabeth,” Dan said. “They’ve gone to Port Elizabeth.”

“That is miles away,” Felipe said, but Jev was nodding, realising his friend was probably right. “They cannot have gone there. Are just saying this so you can escape.”

“We want to find him as much as you do,” Dan said. “Do you want to find him or not?”

“Of course I do,” Felipe snapped. But he couldn’t just let them loose, and definitely not in a place like Port Elizabeth. They would be gone within seconds. It was probably their plan all along, and he couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid he’d fallen for it.

“Then let’s go,” Dan said. “The longer we stand here chatting about it, the more likely we are to lose him.”

“Cannot just go off like this,” Felipe said. If nothing else he needed to wait for Rob to come back from meeting with the governor, or else they were going to be in even more trouble for letting Dan and Jev go.

“Sure we can,” Dan said. “Come on, then?”

“Dan, calm down,” Jev said. He got the feeling Felipe wasn’t going to appreciate being spoken to like this and he didn’t want them to be thrown back into the cell. They needed to stay on Felipe’s good side if they wanted him to actually keep his word this time.

“Calm down?” Dan asked. “God knows what Webber is doing to Felipinho and you want me to calm down? We need to find him.”

“Yes, but we must think about ourselves also,” Jev said, quietly, his back to Felipe. “We cannot upset the father.”

“I don’t give a shit about me,” Dan snapped. “We need to find Felipinho. You know what Webber was like when he first found him. Do you want to leave him there alone?”

“What?” Felipe asked. “What was he like?”

“We need to go to Port Elizabeth. Now.”

 

“Felipe!”

Rob wasn’t really surprised to find the house they had been staying in empty. After what he’d seen these past couple of months, it was unrealistic to think Felipe would have just stayed put and waited for him to return, not whilst Felipinho was missing, but Rob had figured he would check back here first.

He knew Felipe wouldn’t have gone to get the pirates. Because that was a stupid thing to do. And Rob had told him not to until he got back. And Felipe listened to everything Rob said and did exactly as he was told.

Rob didn’t like where his thoughts were going.

The most immediate way to make _sure_ Felipe hadn’t done anything stupid was to go to the prison and check, to settle his own mind if nothing else. What he found at the prison didn’t settle him in the slightest.

 

“This girl,” Jenson asked, watching Mark for his reaction. “What’s she like?”

“She’s not a girl,” Mark corrected him. “She’s a woman. A very kind woman. She’ll make a good mother.”

If they were not in an overcrowded kart with half a dozen strangers, Mark would have been marching away from Jenson, avoiding the conversation as physically as possible and hoping Jenson got the hint. As it was, he was stuck sitting next to his friend without much hope of going anywhere.

“And I guess you intend to make her a wife?” Jenson asked. “You want to do all this properly, I know Mark, but this isn’t you.”

“What do you know what is and isn’t me?” Mark snapped. He hadn’t meant to snap, but he had enough with Sebastian telling him his own mind more often than not. He didn’t need the same thing from Jenson.

And there was the fact that Jenson _didn’t_ know what he was talking about. He could be a good father, live a normal life like the baby and it’s mother needed him to live. Jenson knew _nothing_ about him, no matter what he thought.

“This isn’t you,” Jenson said. “You’re just doing this because you feel like you have to, but you don’t.”

“I am not letting my child grow up without a father,” Mark said. “I have made my decision, and I am going to stick by it. So if your plan is to try and convince me to do otherwise, mate, just give up now.”

Jenson sighed, rubbing tiredness out of his eyes. It was a long way until they reached their destination and he didn’t want the trip to become even longer because he’d pissed Mark off. He fell silent, trying to come up with another way to make Mark realise he was making a huge mistake.

“You’ll get bored,” he pointed out.

“And life is so much more exciting drifting from post to post in the sea, is it?” Mark asked. He smirked, glancing over to his friend. Yes, it was annoying, but it made him feel wanted, at least.

“That’s what you love,” Jenson said. “Come on, mate. It’s what you’ve always loved. A couple of days on dry land and you’ll be itching to get back onto the sea. You always are.”

“I can change,” Mark said. He would have to.

“You won’t be happy,” Jenson said.

“Somethings are more important than my own happiness,” Mark said. “Do you think Dan and Jev are enjoying being locked up because of that kid? No. You do weird things for kids, mate.”

“That doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence,” Jenson said. He sighed. Once Mark had an idea in his head, there was no convincing him, and Jenson knew it. He just wished his friend would see what a mistake he was making. They would bounce back from this. It was what they did. They’d bounce back and show Alonso they couldn’t be pushed around. Because now – and Jenson _knew_ this wasn’t what Mark cared about, but it was still an important point – he was just proving to the Spaniard that he had won.

“What happens when you give up?” Jenson asked.

“I won’t.”

“What happens when she throws you out?”

“She won’t.”

“You ain’t a family man, Mark,” Jenson told him. “She’s going to get bored of that sooner or later. When you’re not Captain Mark Webber, how long is she going to want you around?”

“She’s a nice girl who _you_ do not know,” Mark hissed. “And I suggest you shut up about her now.”

“Do you love her?” Jenson asked.

“Shut up about her, Button. Or I’ll leave you here.”

“So it’s Button now?” Jenson said, not letting Mark push him away. “I’ll take that as a no then. Mark, you can’t just do something like this. I know you think you’re doing the right thing but-.”

“Fine,” Mark snapped, standing up and forcing Jenson to do the same. “Jump.”

“Mark, don’t be stupid, mate,” Jenson said, but the look in Mark’s eye made him a little nervous. The captain had hold of his wrist and was attracting the attention of some of the other travellers, but Mark didn’t seem to care.

“What did I say, Jenson?”

“What has gotten into you, mate?” Jenson snapped, a little worried by his closeness to the edge of the kart. “You need to start talking, not throwing people out of moving karts.”

“And if you want to stay here, Jenson, I suggest you shut your mouth.”

“Fine,” Jenson snapped “I won’t talk. You will.”

 

Rob was pretty sure he was never going to find Felipe and the pirates. Nobody had seen any of them and he was hoping he could find the three of them before his father in law decided to check in on the pirates and start a search himself. They were going to get in so much trouble, him included, if his father in law found out.

But finding a place to _start_ looking was an issue in itself. He’d come back to the little house they were staying in, in the hope Felipe saw sense or something – not that he expected that to happen any time soon. There was no clue there were they had gone to look.

There was a knock on the door before Rob could decide which place would be best to start. Rob gulped, hoping it wasn’t the governor or anybody sent from him.

Raffaela Massa hurried into the house before Rob could stop her, exhausted but beaming.

“I… I thought you couldn’t get her until tomorrow morning,” Rob said, staring at her.

“Oh Rob,” Raffaela hugged him quickly and tightly before letting him go, still beaming. “Where is he then?”

“You weren’t supposed to get here until the morning,” Rob said again.

“I could not wait,” Raffaela said. “The driver kept saying _we must stop, we must stop, it is too dark, it is too wet, we must stop_ but I would not let him. I want to see my little boy again. You must know how this feels Rob. Where is he?”

“Yes,” Rob said. He knew how that felt. “About that…”

Raffaela’s smile fell. “Where is he?”

 

“Do you know where you are looking once we get there?” Felipe asked.

“Er…” Dan said, nervously.

“You don’t?”

“People will know Webber there,” Jev tried to assure the Brazilian, pausing a moment to glare at Dan. “Do not worry. We will be able to find him there.”

Felipe didn’t look convinced. He’d been to Port Elizabeth a couple of times, but never stayed long. It wasn’t the kind of place people like him spent any longer than they needed to. It wasn’t like other ports, from what he could remember. Over run with pirates and you were lucky if you left the port with the same amount of possessions as you came with.

“You are so sure he is there?”

“Well, what did they say?” Dan asked. “Didn’t they leave any message to say where he would be?”

Felipe shook his head. “We disturbed them. Maybe they were planning to do so. I don’t know.”

“They are probably planning on sending a message,” Jev said. He didn’t really have any idea how this kind of thing worked, but he knew they would be asking for a ransom, and they would have to send some kind of message about that. “If he is not in Port Elizabeth, then we will go and wait for the message and they will tell us where to go.”

“And how long will that take?” Felipe asked. He shook his head. They needed Felipinho back _now_ , before this Webber they talked about did something to him. “What will they do to him?”

Dan bit his lip, turning to Jev, but the Frenchman shook his head slightly, hoping he wouldn’t say anything. Felipe didn’t need to be any more worried than he already was.

“Nothing too bad,” Dan lied.

“That is not what you were saying back in Montefiore,” Felipe snapped. “Tell me what they are going to do to my son.”

“Nothing, really,” Jev jumped in. “They would not, whilst they think they can get money from him, they would not do anything.”

 


	25. Port Elizabeth

Sebastian couldn’t tell if he’d slept or not. His head ache had only gotten worse during the journey, the bumpy ride making his brain bounce around inside his skull. The one thing that he could be thankful for was that the child had managed to sleep through most of the ride, waking up as the sun rose and they drew close to Port Elizabeth.

Sebastian lifted Felipinho from the carriage, placing him onto the floor whilst he spoke to the driver. Maybe he would know where Mark was planning on meeting them.

Felipinho looked around, his blankets still wrapped close around him. It was pretty empty here, too early in the morning for most people to be around. It had stopped raining in the night but that just meant it was even more muddier than usual, the dirt track turning into a sticky mess. Most of the people wondering in the streets were sailors, Felipinho judged, heading back to the ships that he couldn’t see for the buildings that lined the streets.

The driver knew nothing and left Sebastian with short words. The doctor backed away, dragging Felipinho back with him, as the horses started to move.

He was hoping Mark and Jenson would already be here. Mark wouldn’t be that difficult to find, he figured. He wouldn’t let Sebastian wander around lost with the child in tow, would he? Actually, Sebastian didn’t like to think about what Mark would or wouldn’t do anymore.

“Come on,” the German said, taking hold of Felipinho’s hand. He’d find someone to ask. Mark was well known enough for his presence to have been noted, even if he wasn’t planning on telling Sebastian himself.

“Where are we going?” Felipinho asked, disgusted by the way the mud felt on his bare feet. He wanted picking up again, but he didn’t really know if Sebastian would let him.

“To find Mark.”

“Mark?”

“The Captain.”

“What?”

Felipinho dug his feet into the mud until Sebastian stopped walking, turning back to him. He was _not_ going to go anywhere the captain was. Not without Dan or Jev. He could still see the mark on his cheek from the first time he met the captain and he didn’t want that to happen again.

“What’s the matter?” Sebastian asked. He was too tired for this. This had to be the stupidest plan he had ever been involved in, but his part was nearly over. He didn’t need a bratty five year old ruining it in the last moments.

“Am not going,” Felipinho said, crossing his arms.

“You have to come,” Sebastian said. “Or the police will get you.”

“They’re not here,” Felipinho said. “I want Papa or Dan and Jev. I’m not going anywhere else with you.”

Sebastian groaned, rubbing the spot on his forehead where his headache was most painful, as if that might help.

“Please, Felipinho.”

“No,” Felipinho said. “I am waiting right here for Papa or Dan or Jev to find me.”

“Well, the police will find you first,” Sebastian warned. “And then you will be in trouble, won’t you?”

“If the police come, I will run,” Felipinho said. He was determined not to go with Sebastian.

The German just sighed again. He would go and find Mark and Jenson himself and bring them back to the child. He couldn’t really get himself in that much trouble stood there, could he?

 

“Sebastian should be here soon,” Jenson said, optimistically. He looked over to Mark. He didn’t think his friend had slept all night. Jenson had woken a couple of times to find Mark always sat in the same place, beside the window, watching the rain splatter against it. It was where he had found the Australian when he had woken up in the morning, and where he was still sat now. “We should go out and find him.”

He didn’t know how Mark was expecting Sebastian to find them. There were a dozen inns in Port Elizabeth.

Mark didn’t say anything. He hadn’t said anything since the inn keeper had kindly let them into their room, just watched the rain and glared moodily out of the window.

Jenson rolled his eyes.

“Do you want me to go out and find him?” he asked. He’d seen Mark in these moods before. Under normal circumstances, he would have been confident that the Australian would bounce out of it soon enough but, under normal circumstances, Mark wasn’t about to make the biggest mistake of his life, and Jenson wasn’t really sure what to make of him anymore.

Mark didn’t even bother to answer. Jenson rolled his eyes, done with being patient with his friend, and stood.

“Fine,” he said. “You can let Sebastian wander around the town with the child if you want to, but I can’t. I’m going to find him.”

“Wait,” Mark said as Jenson turned to the door.

Jenson stopped, turning back to Mark. The captain hadn’t turned away from the window, but he’d sat up slightly, and Jenson came across the room to see what he was looking at.

On the street, directly below them, a smart looking carriage stopped. Even that didn’t look like it belonged here – not the kind of carriage one would expect to find in Port Elizabeth. The pair continued to watch, hidden in their room, as the carriage door opened and Felipe hopped out, closely followed by Dan and Jev.

Mark turned to Jenson, as if this explained his actions. Jenson stared blankly back at him.

“We need to find Sebastian.”

 

“You have been here before?” Felipe asked, paying the driver before turning back to the two pirates.

“A couple of times,” Dan said. They hadn’t come here as many times as Felipe would have liked them to have come, and he knew it. He wasn’t planning on informing the Brazilian of that though.

“So you will know where your captain is?” Felipe asked.

“No,” Dan said. They’d gone over this in the carriage on the way here, when all Jev and Dan had wanted to do was sleep and Felipe had stubbornly refused to let them do so. “But people here will recognise the Captain.”

“Are not going to tell you where he is when you look like that, though,” Jev commented, nodding to Felipe.

“Like what?” Felipe asked, looking down at himself. He didn’t think he looked peculiar. Perfectly presentable, if a little tired and worn out. Nothing wrong at all.

“You look like a rich trader,” Jev said.

“So what?” Felipe asked. He _was_ a trader, and much better off than most of the people who lived and worked around here.

“So, you stand out like a sore thumb,” Jev said. “You cannot be there when we are trying to find out where Webber is.”

“No,” Felipe said, definitely, and Jev was beginning to think it was the Brazilian’s main goal in life to hinder them as much as possible. “I am not leaving you alone. You will run.”

“We want to find Felipinho as much as you do,” Dan tried to say, but Felipe wasn’t listening to a word of it.

“Nobody wants to find Felipinho as much as I do.”

Jev rolled his eyes. Standing here arguing about it wasn’t doing any of them any good.

“We are not going to run,” he tried to assure the trader. “They are not going to trust you and they will not tell us where Webber is. Do you want that to happen?”

“Arguing about this isn’t going to find him,” Dan snapped.

“Fine,” Felipe said. “But I am not letting you go alone.”

Jev just nodded. They weren’t going to agree on this any time soon and Dan was right. The sooner they actually started looking for the captain, the sooner they would find Felipinho.

 

Felipinho was watching everybody go past, tears rolling down his face. He didn’t want to go off with the Captain, even if he was going to protect him from the police. He would rather go to the police and be put in prison with the rats until his papa told them what had really happened than go to the Captain.

“Oh dear, little one…”

Felipinho looked up to find a lady coming towards him. He thought for a second about running away, in case she was going to put him in the prison too, but it was better than going to see the captain.

“What are you doing out here?”

“Want to go home,” Felipinho mumbled. Maybe the lady would know how to take him home, or know somebody who did.

“Oh dear,” the lady said, taking hold of Felipinho’s hand. “Where are mummy and daddy then? Do you know where home is?”

Felipinho shook his head. He didn’t know how to get there.

“Those are some very smart clothes,” the lady said, slowly.

Felipinho looked down at himself. They weren’t _that_ smart. It was just his night gown, and it was dirty now because he was standing in the mud.

“Hmmm,” the lady said, a smile on her face. “Very smart. Expensive.”

 

Sebastian bumped into Jenson – literally - only a couple of streets away from the inn Mark and Jenson had been staying in. For a couple of moments, Jenson is just relieved to have found the doctor. Then they notice the absence of a certain tiny Brazilian.

“Where’s the child?” Mark asked, pulling Jenson away from Sebastian as the Brit went to hug him.

“He didn’t want to come,” Sebastian said.

“So what? You just left him in Montefiore?” Mark asked.

Sebastian backed away from him a little, surprised by how angry he was. He’d never seen Mark this angry before.

“Of course not,” Sebastian said. “I am not an idiot. He would not come when he found out I was taking him to you. He’s around the corner. He wouldn’t move from there.”

“Where is he?” Mark said. “Take us to him.”

Sebastian nodded quickly, glancing over at Jenson. He wanted to ask what was wrong, because clearly something must have happened between him leaving Felipinho’s bedroom and now, but Jenson just shook his head.

Sebastian hurried back the way he had come, keeping his mouth shut. Maybe it would be better to get away from Mark for a while. Whatever had gotten into him, he wasn’t Sebastian’s Mark anymore.

“He is not too far away,” Sebastian said quietly. He wanted to point out that they couldn’t blame him for screwing anything up - even though he hadn’t screwed _anything_ up – when they hadn’t even told him what was going on. But he didn’t think that kind of conversation would be one he would enjoy.

“You shouldn’t have left him on his own,” Mark said.

“I would like to see how you would have handled the bratty little shit,” Sebastian muttered to himself, hoping Mark didn’t hear him. The Australian didn’t say anything, so Sebastian guessed he had gotten away with it.

“We’re glad you got the message though,” Jenson said. “We weren’t sure what to expect. Glad you’re here though.”

“What happened?”

“We thought it better to separate,” Jenson said. “They were coming after us. We were leading them away from you two.”

“You could have told me that was the plan,” Sebastian mumbled, unimpressed.

“It wasn’t the plan,” Jenson laughed, putting an arm around Sebastian’s shoulder’s and grinning down at the German. “Sometimes you’ve just got to think on your feet in times like that. Sorry.”

“Will be no more of those times when we get the kid back to his father,” Sebastian pointed out, and Jenson was unsurprised to find out how relieved he sounded. Sebastian was a doctor, not a pirate, and Jenson doubted he’d find himself on another ship any time soon.

Jenson glanced back at Mark, who was following behind them. He could tell the Australian had heard what had been said, but he was pretending not to.

“Yeah,” Jenson said, sadly. “I guess not. Come on then. Where is he? You said he wasn’t that far away.”

“He is just around-.”

Sebastian stopped. Felipinho wasn’t _just_ around here. His eyes darted around the road, because the child couldn’t have gone too far. He was too scared to go anywhere. Sebastian had _made sure_ he wasn’t going to go anywhere.

“Where is he?” Mark asked from behind him, already having figured out what Sebastian had done.

Sebastian shuddered. Why couldn’t things ever just go right for him?


	26. Search

“This isn’t the way home,” Felipinho said, confused. At least the lady didn’t seem to be taking him to Captain Webber, but he wasn’t sure where he was being taken.

“No,” the lady said. “But it’s ok. We’ll make sure you get home.”

“We?” Felipinho asked, nervously. He didn’t like the sound of that.

“We,” the lady said again, pulling on Felipinho’s arm when he started to slow down a little. “Come on. Somebody will take you away if you’re stood out here by yourself.”

 _Wearing something like that,_ she thought. She had her eyes on the expensive fabric the boy was wearing, trying to figure out how much his parents must earn.

“Like you?” Felipinho asked, looking up at the lady.

“No, not like me,” the lady said, kindly. “Somebody nasty.”

“I already got taken away by somebody nasty,” Felipinho said, wiping his nose. “They took me when I was sleeping. They said if I go back though, I have to go in prison.”

He stopped, suddenly, looking up at the lady. Maybe she would take him to the police, and then to prison, and he didn’t want that. He just wanted to go home.

“Why would they think something like that?” the lady asked.

Felipinho shrugged. “They think I’m a pirate.”

“A what?” the lady asked, laughing.

“A pirate,” Felipinho said, rubbing his eyes with his free hand. They were walking a very long way away, and it wasn’t the way home. “I was taken away by pirates. On papa’s and Uncle Rob’s ship.”

The woman stopped, looking back at the little boy. Felipinho almost ran into her, not realising she had stopped.

“What’s your name?” she asked. She probably should have asked that before.

“Felipinho Massa,” Felipinho said, proudly, smiling up at the lady.

“Massa?” the lady said, slowly. Yes, she was definitely getting a decent reward for this one.

 

“Sebastian, do you realise what you have done?” Mark snapped, pressing the German against the nearest wall.

“Hey,” Jenson cried, pulling Mark away from Sebastian. “Hey, this isn’t his fault. Mark, calm down. What the fuck has gotten into you?”

“Not his fault,” Mark snapped, glaring at Jenson. “Whose would you think it was then?”

“I was abandoned with a child who did not want to be with me,” Sebastian said, brushing himself down. “You are lucky I managed to get him here at all.”

“You have lost our only chance at getting any money,” Mark said, seething.

“Come on, he’ll be around here somewhere,” Jenson said. “And if he isn’t we’ll find someone else. Mark, calm down. We get through this mess like we get through every mess.”

“Around here somewhere,” Mark scoffed. “And who else is around here somewhere, Jenson? If they find the kid before we do…”

“Who else is around here?” Sebastian asked, ignoring the captain’s hysterics for a moment.

“We saw Felipinho’s father with Jean-Eric and Daniel a few streets away,” Jenson said. “They must have figured out we would come here and come to look for him. Don’t worry.”

Sebastian’s eyes widened and Jenson knew ‘don’t worry’ was a stupid thing to say, but he didn’t want to have two panicking idiots in his care.

“Mark?” he asked, though he didn’t know why. Mark wasn’t really in any fit state to be leading a search part now and Jenson knew he was going to wind up in charge here.

“We need to find him before Massa does,” Mark said, the anger slowly falling away from his face, much to Jenson’s relief.

“Where would he have gone to around here?” Sebastian asked. He had been sure the child would have waited where he said he had left him.

“We ask around,” Mark said. “Someone would have spotted him.”

“He was on the ship for months before we found him,” Sebastian pointed out, only for Mark to glare at him. “Alright, we ask around.”

Apparently this wasn’t all going to be over as soon as he had hoped it would be anyway.

 

“Who’s asking?” the man asked. He took the cigarette from his mouth, flicking ash onto the floor and looking between Dan and Jev.

“We work for him,” Jev explained.

The man considered them both again. They definitely looked the part, but he’d never seen them with Webber before, and everyone around here knew not to go against him. There were always people looking for Webber, for one reason or another, and most of the time it wasn’t for anything good.

“Come on, mate,” Dan said, hopefully. “We need to get back before he leaves. He’s gonna be pissed at us if we go missing as it is. Please.”

The man considered their story for a few more moments before shaking his head. “I haven’t seen him.”

“You have to have seen him,” Jev said, trying to keep the desperation from his voice.

The man shook his head.

Jev huffed, annoyed, and Dan rocked back onto the heels of his feet. Fair enough, the guy didn’t _have_ to know where Webber was, but he didn’t have to waste their time either.

“Dan? Dan! Jev!”

Dan hadn’t even turned around before something crashed into his legs, almost pushing him over into Jev. Felipinho wrapped his arms tightly around Dan, refusing to let him go even when the lady tried to pull him away. Dan and Jev had come to rescue him from Captain Webber. They would be better at taking him home than the lady was, he knew it.

“Come along, dear,” the lady tried to say, but Felipinho shook his head, holding onto Dan’s leg so tightly the Australian couldn’t bend down to pick him up. “We have to take you home, remember?”

“It’s ok,” Jev said, crouching down beside Felipinho and trying to unhook the child’s fingers from his friend’s leg. “We are with his father.”

“You… _you_ are with his father?” the woman said, stepping away to look over the two pirates. She shook her head. There was no way this kind of people who know Felipinho’s father. And she was _not_ going to let them get away with her meal ticket.

“I don’t believe it,” she said.

Jev had Felipinho in his arms by now, the child snuggling happily against his chest and holding onto Dan’s hand in case the Australian decided to slip off.

“Shall we get you to Papa?” Jev whispered into the boy’s ear. “I think he has missed you lots.

“Sebastian said you were in prison,” Felipinho said, quietly. “And that they were going to put me in prison too If I didn’t go with them. I don’t want to go to prison.”

“Give him here,” the woman said. “I am not letting him go off with you. For all I know, you are the people who kidnapped him in the first place.”

“His dad’s right around the corner,” Dan said. “Chill out, it’s ok.”

“Give him here,” the woman demanded, pulling Felipinho’s hand away from Dan’s. “I found him. He’s _mine_.”

“Am not anybody’s,” Felipinho snapped. “Am Papa’s and mummy’s and that’s it. Am not tobacco.”

The woman stepped back, confused, and let go of Felipinho’s hand whilst the two pirates burst out laughing.

“No,” Dan said once he had finished laughing. “No, you’re not. Shall we take you back to papa now?”

“You are not getting the reward,” the woman said. “You’re the ones who took him in the first place, aren’t you? You don’t get the reward for this.”

“We’re not getting any reward,” Jev said. There were more people about now, starting to fill the streets as the working day began. They just needed to get Felipinho to his father before the woman started screaming kidnapping or something.

And where was Felipe anyway? Wasn’t he supposed to be watching them, making sure they didn’t run off?

“Let’s just go,” Dan said, pulling on Jev’s arm and leading him back the way they’d come.

“ _I’m_ the one who found him,” the woman snapped, pulling at Felipinho again.

“Let it go, nobody’s getting any reward,” Dan snapped.

“Felipinho?”

“Mummy!”

This might have been the weirdest thing Felipinho had ever been in the middle of, but he was sure that was his mother running towards him, Rob following close behind.

Jev was shocked enough by the woman’s appearance to let her take the squirming child away from him, watching, a little stunned, as she pressed kisses into his hair and whispered to him in a language Jev couldn’t really understand.

“See?” Rob said, slightly out of breath from the running. “I told you there was absolutely nothing to worry about.”

Or he’d _tried_ to tell her there was nothing to worry about but, after explaining that her son had been kidnapped by pirates _again,_ it hadn’t really sunk in.

“You are the ones who took him?” Raffaela shot at Dan and Jev, holding Felipinho’s cheek against her chest.

“No,” Dan said, quickly, pointing back to where they had left Felipe to watch them. “No, his father came and got us. He wanted us to help him find him.”

“They’re my friends,” Felipinho said, quietly. “Tell her Rob.”

Raffaela looked over to where Dan was pointing, but found nothing.

The woman was still hovering over them, looking very unimpressed. She hadn’t rescued this child from where he’d been lost for nothing.

“I found him, you know,” she pointed out to the mother. Raffaela was as nicely dressed as her son, minus the mud that had made it’s way up Felipinho’s night clothes. Maybe she would be able to get something from the mother.

“Yes, thank you,” Raffaela said, quietly, searching for her husband. She didn’t believe Felipe would have left the pirates alone, definitely not after what Rob had been telling her in the carriage here.

“So?” the woman asked, stopping Raffaela when she made to go off in the direction Dan had pointed in.

“So what?” Raffaela asked. Rob stepped forward, but Raffaela stopped him, curious as to what the woman wanted.

“So, don’t I get a thank you?” the woman said.

“You got a thank you,” Raffaela said, calmly.

“No,” the woman said, stopping Raffaela again when she turned away. Rob stepped forward, protectively, but the woman didn’t back off. “There was a reward.”

Raffaela’s eyes narrowed and she shrugged off the woman’s hand. “If you touch me again, I will have you arrested.”

“You can’t do that,” the woman said.

“Am fairly certain I can,” Raffaela warned. “But we can test this theory, if you wish.”

The woman glared back at her, trying to figure out if Raffaela was bluffing, but said nothing. Raffaela just turned away, taking her son to go and find out where her husband had disappeared off to.

Dan and Jev made to follow her when Rob stopped them.

“This doesn’t change anything,” he said, quietly, watching the woman sulk back off to wherever she had come from.

“But Felipe said…” Dan began.

“I know what Felipe said,” Rob said, quietly. He didn’t like doing this, but he didn’t have a choice. He hadn’t been able to convince his father in law and if he went against the governor’s orders, he would be in as much trouble as the pirates. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t do anything.”

“You cannot do this,” Jev snapped. “You cannot just go back on what you have said like this. We helped you. We brought Felipinho back and we found him again. You cannot do this to us.”

“I’m sorry,” Rob said again.

“You do not sound very sorry to me,” Jev said. He couldn’t just let them put them back in the cell and wait in silence for someone to come and execute them. He knew it sounded childish, but this wasn’t _fair_. After everything he and Jev had done for them.

“Talk to Felipe,” Dan suggested, though he had no idea where the Brazilian even was. “See what he says.”

“Felipe will say the same as me,” Rob said. “If it were down to us, we’d just pretend that we never met you. But it isn’t. The governor-.”

Dan shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. Rob sighed, falling silent. There was nothing he could say to convince them and he knew it, but he couldn’t change a thing.

“There has to be a way,” Jev said, putting an arm around Dan and holding the Australian close as if that could protect him from whatever Rob’s “governor” would do to them. “Does not have to be legal. It just has to be a way.”

Rob shook his head. “Then we all get into trouble,” he said. He could pretend the governor might be a bit kinder to him, being family, but Rob knew that wasn’t true. If he let the pirates get away, he’d probably end up taking their place.

“I don’t care,” Jev said. “Felipe said he could get us out of this. Where is he? Let’s see what he has to say.”

Jev pulled away from Rob again, making to follow Felipinho and his mother to find out where Felipe had disappeared to. It was only then that anybody noticed Raffaela had stopped at the entrance to the alleyway Felipe had been watching from, staring at something inside.


	27. New Plans

“ _Dan? Dan! Jev!”_

Sebastian’s head shot up just in time to see the child race across the street to where Dan and Jev were arguing with a man he didn’t recognise. He nudged Jenson beside him, pointing out the child. Now they just had to figure out how to get him from Dan and Jev. _Finally_ everything was working out for them.

Jenson grinned and was about to lead the way over to the child when something further up the street caught his eye.

“Mark?”

“What?”

Jenson pointed to Felipe, who was nervously approaching the group, as if his son might turn to dust if he let himself believe it was true. A small smile crept onto the Australian’s face and Sebastian didn’t know what exactly he was thinking, but he was pretty sure it wasn’t good.

“Follow me,” Mark murmured, before leaving their hiding place and marching up to Felipe.

“You?”

The relieved look on Felipe’s face turned to anger again at the sight of the three pirates approaching. Part of his brain tried to convince him this was a good thing – they’d found the pirates and they would be easier to capture again now – but most of him knew he was hardly in a fit state to capture anybody right now.

Without saying a word, Mark dragged the little Brazilian back into the hiding place he had just left.

“What are you -? Get _off_ of me.”

“Mark?” Sebastian asked, nervously. He glanced back at Dan and Jev, fighting with the woman over Felipinho. They didn’t seem to have noticed the commotion going on. “Mark, I do not think this is a-.”

“Leave it, Seb,” Jenson said, quietly. He was beginning to think they should have just left Sebastian at Montefiore. It was pretty clear he didn’t want to be here, and he and Mark could take care of this on their own, if they needed to.

“Get off of me,” Felipe snapped again as Mark pushed him back into the dingy alleyway that lead between two buildings. The Australian’s knuckles were white as he gripped onto the Brazilian’s wrist, slamming Felipe back into the wall and winding him a moment.

“Cannot do this,” Felipe said once he had caught his breathe again. “Are already in enough trouble having taken the ship. And then you kidnap Felipinho _again_ and now this.”

“If they catch us, they’re going to hang us anyway,” Mark said, darkly. “I think we can take the risk.”

 

“Shush, shush, shush. It is ok, Felipinho. It is ok.”

Felipinho buried his face in his mother’s chest, not wanting to look at the mess that had been left in the alleyway. He didn’t like it.

“Just want to go home, mummy,” Felipinho whispered. “Just want to find Papa and go home and I am never going away from home ever again. Not even once.”

“It’s ok,” Raffaela said again. She looked round to see Rob and the two pirates heading in her direction. “We will take you home and make sure there is nothing bad ever again.”

Rob was the first to reach her. One glance at the blood on the walls and he knew what conclusion Raffaela had come to.

“He’s ok,” Rob whispered into her ear. “He would be here if he wasn’t ok.”

“There is a note,” Raffaela said. They wanted her to see this. They wanted her to know what they had done and what they were willing to do and what had _she_ ever done to them. Why were they doing this to her.

A note left with her husband’s jacket and her husband’s shoes and she didn’t really want to know what it said.

“He’s ok, he’s alive,” Rob said, quietly, his eyes flicking over the note quickly. “They just want money.”

“Mummy?” Felipinho said, quietly, looking up at his mother.

“It’s ok, sweetie,” Raffaela said, quietly, running her hands through Felipinho’s hair again. “It’s ok. Papa’s ok.”

Rob just nodded, but there was no way that was true. They couldn’t find the amount of money the pirates wanted, and getting it from his father in law was even less likely than getting him to let the pirates go.

The pirates.

Rob looked back, half expecting Dan and Jev to have run, but the two were both approaching slowly, trying to see what Rob and Raffaela were looking at.

“Go and take Felipinho back to Montefiore,” Rob said, quietly.

“I am not leaving until I know my husband is ok,” Raffaela said.

“This isn’t a place for Felipinho,” Rob said. They needed to keep the toddler away from all this, in case he got involved in all of this again. The further away Felipinho and Raffaela were from this mess, the easier it would for this to be over. “I’ll handle this, don’t worry.”

“As you have handled everything else?” Raffaela snapped.

“He’s right,” Jev said, making Raffaela jump. “If they can get their hands on Felipinho again, they will. It is better for him to be back in Montefiore.”

“Mummy?” Felipinho said again. They kept saying that nothing was wrong, but that wasn’t true. They wouldn’t all be worried if that was true. “Mummy? Where’s Papa?”

“I am going to find him,” Rob said, gently. “But you have to go back home with Mummy now, alright?”

“Why?”

“Because that will be safer for you mate,” Dan said, gently. “It’ll mean nobody can do anything nasty to you, yeah? And you have to look after mummy.”

“Mummy looks after _me_ ,” Felipinho said. The grown ups couldn’t even get that right. How were they supposed to make things ok again.

“Yeah,” Rob said, gently. “That’s right. Mummy will look after you. Back in Montefiore.”

“Yes, alright,” Raffaela snapped. “I’ll go.”

A little relieved he’d managed to get the woman to leave, Rob watched Raffaela take Felipinho back to where they had left the carriage, waving to Felipinho as they went.

“What has happened?” Jev asked.

“They took Felipe,” Rob said. “They want money but we don’t have that kind of money. I mean, trying to find whoever took the governor’s ship, he would pay for that, but to save a life? Merchants come ten a penny to people like him.”

“Hang on a second,” Dan said. “I thought he was paying to find Felipinho.”

“Yeah,” Rob said, quietly, shaking his head. “He doesn’t really care about anything like that. Anything like this.”

They were never going to get the kind of money the pirates wanted. They were going to have to come up with another way to get Felipe. They – _him_.

“What can we do?” Dan asked.

“What?” Jev and Rob said at the same time.

“Well, we have to do something, don’t we?” Dan said, not really sure why the two other men were so confused. “Unless you just want to leave him there.”

“You want to… you want to help?” Rob asked. It was a trick. They would say they were helping and then run off as soon as they could. Although, they would have already run off when they’d had the chance if that was their plan… No, Rob didn’t trust them.

“Of course,” Dan said.

“I can’t get you off the hook,” Rob said. “So if that’s your plan, you might as well stop pretending. There’s nothing I can say that I haven’t already said, and that didn’t work.”

“I know,” Dan said. “But…”

But what? He didn’t know why he wanted to help? Yeah, they’d probably saved his life when he’d been thrown off of Alonso’s ship, but now Rob was just going to hand him over to the authorities so they could kill him. There was no logic to what he was doing at all.

“Surely the person who ship we took,” Jev said, slowly, trying to come up with his own way out of this mess. “He would prefer it if you had the Captain rather than us. We could swap him for us, couldn’t we? Wouldn’t your boss like that?”

Rob thought about the question. His father in law probably wouldn’t go along with this plan. If he found out they had the captain of the pirates, he would want him _as well as_ Dan and Jev. But if there was more than one of them, then Rob was sure he would be able to replace Dan and Jev without the governor even noticing.

“Alright then,” Rob said. “Let’s do it.”

 

“We do not have this kind of money,” Felipe said again, fighting against the restraints around his wrists. He hadn’t been surprised when the inn keeper had let them up to the room Mark and Jenson had been staying in without doing anything to help him. This place was full of pirates and he should never have come here alone. “You are just going to get yourself in even more trouble.”

The pirates had given up replying to him now. He was just repeating things he had already said anyway, but he couldn’t just give up and he couldn’t think of anything else to change their minds. It was true, they didn’t have that kind of money. Everyone thought they were rich because they dressed nicely and had a roof over their heads, but it wasn’t true. They got by. They got by a lot better than some people did, but they was all they did.

“How long until you give up?” Felipe said. “Because they will not come. We do not have the money and there is nobody stupid enough to come after me. So how long until you just give up and let me go?”

“We’re not going to let you go,” Mark said. “If we can’t get money out of you this way, we’ll find another.”

“Another way?” Felipe asked.

Mark smirked, leaning back in his chair and kicking his feet back onto the table top. “We get our money one way or another, don’t you worry about this.”

“There’s something wrong with Mark,” Sebastian said quietly. He’d pulled Jenson out into the hall way, needing to speak to the cook without their captain listening. There was definitely something wrong with Mark. He knew the Australian wasn’t the same person Sebastian had thought he knew. He’d known that when he found out about the baby.

“I know,” Jenson said, keeping his voice down. Mark didn’t know that either of them had lost faith in him, but he knew Sebastian was right. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Mark to go off alone, either. “We’ll get the money from these guys and-.”

“You really think we are going to get _any_ money from these guys?” Sebastian hissed. “Did not even look like they had money to bring for the child. They are not going to pay for _him_ if they were not going to pay for the child?”

“I know,” Jenson said again. He knew how Mark could get when he was on the edge. He’d been there the last time they’d found themselves in hot water, but it had not been the same as this. There was a lot on Mark’s mind, and he knew it, but they couldn’t go on like this.

“So what do we do?” Sebastian asked.

“That guy’s the only way we’re going to get enough money to get out of this place,” Jenson said. If they didn’t get the money from the traders they would get it another way.

“Isn’t there any other way?” Sebastian asked. “How did you do it last time?”

There was no way Sebastian believed they did this last time. He didn’t think Jenson would still be around if they’d gone through all this before.

Jenson just shook his head. “That’s not going to work this time.”

“What did you do?” Sebastian asked. Maybe there was a way they could make this work.

Jenson shook his head again. Sebastian didn’t need to know about any of that. “It wouldn’t work. Trust me Seb. This is the best way.”

“Well, it is not going to work like this,” Sebastian said. “We need to try something else. Talking to them or something.”

“We try and talk to them, and they’ll arrest us,” Jenson said.

“Dan and Jev then,” Sebastian said. “They are working with the traders, aren’t they? Maybe we can talk to them. Get them to talk to the traders for us?”

“What would we say?” Jenson asked.

“Make sure they know he is safe,” Sebastian said. “But make sure they know how sick Mark is. Make sure they know he might not be safe for much longer. It might convince them to hurry up.”

“If they don’t have the money, they don’t have the money,” Jenson said. “We’re going to need something better.”

“So you think we should talk to them?” Sebastian asked.

Jenson rubbed his jaw, not really sure this was a good idea. Especially if Mark found out. If the captain had been in the right frame of mind, Jenson knew he would go along with this plan. It wasn’t a _bad_ plan. But now… Jenson didn’t think he would listen to any suggestion and for the only crew he had left to go behind his back… Mark would definitely jump to the conclusion of mutiny.

“Go and find Dan and Jev,” Jenson said, quietly. “Arrange a meeting for tonight. I’ll have sorted out what we need to say to them by then.”

“A meeting where?” Sebastian asked.

“I don’t know,” Jenson hissed. “Use your brain, Sebastian.”

Sebastian sighed but nodded anyway. He would have to think up something by himself, _again_. He really was beginning to regret going along with Mark’s plan.

“Be quick though,” Jenson said. “And don’t talk to them where Mark can see you, please.”

Sebastian nodded again, muttering about not being an idiot as he hurried down the stairs and out into the street. Jenson watched him go, struggling to find an explanation for Mark.


	28. Discovered Lies

When Jenson returned to the room, both men looked up at him. Mark hadn’t even noticed he had left until he came back in, and the captain quickly looked around to find Sebastian had gone too.

“Where’s Seb?”

“He went for a walk,” Jenson lied.

“A walk where?” Mark asked, suspiciously. He knew one of the last people he had to worry about was Sebastian, but he knew the doctor could be a spoilt brat when he wasn’t happy and he got the feeling things might be taking a little too long for him.

Jenson shrugged. “He said he needed a walk.”

“Why were you out there?” Mark asked.

“I asked him to go and get some food whilst we wait for these lot to come for him,” Jenson said, nodding down to Felipe and sitting in the empty chair by the window. “Feel like I haven’t eaten in days.”

“Yeah, well,” Mark said, quietly, realising how stupid he had been to suspect Jenson of anything. “It has been a while.”

“Yeah,” Jenson said, looking out the window as subtly as possible. He couldn’t see anybody he recognised out there. He just hoped Sebastian found Dan and Jev before the captain could get suspicious. “Starving.”

“Thank you for sorting that out, mate,” Mark said. Sometimes he wondered what he would do without Jenson keeping an eye on the small important things.

Jenson nodded, closing his eyes. He doubted Mark would mind if he pretended to have a little nap whilst he thought of something to say that evening.

 

“Do you have _any_ idea where they might be?” Rob asked. At the moment it just felt like he was following Dan and Jev around, and that the two pirates where just wandering around aimlessly. They weren’t getting anywhere like this.

“Not exactly,” Dan said, slowly.

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?” Rob asked.

“I mean, I’m not entirely sure where the Captain could be,” Dan said. They weren’t the kind of people who came and hung out with the crew when they were in a port. He and Jev preferred to stay on the ship and make their own entertainment, not needing the places that other sailors would slip away to, which was why neither of them really knew where the captain would or wouldn’t be welcome.

“Great,” Rob muttered. He had as much hope of finding Felipe with these two trying to lead him as he did following a pair of ducks. This was useless. “Where are the bars around here? Maybe he’s there?”

“You would keep a hostage in a bar?” Jev asked.

“I don’t know, I’ve not much experience keeping hostages,” Rob said. “Why don’t you tell me?”

Jev went to answer but he knew it was better to keep his mouth shut. If he and Dan were going stay alive after all of this, they needed to keep Rob onside.

“I do not think he is going to be in a bar,” the Frenchman said, eventually. He didn’t have any suggestions for where he could be, but he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be there.

“Right,” Rob said. “Does this captain of yours have friends here? People he could stay with?”

“I don’t know,” Dan said. “We weren’t exactly best pals. We just worked for him.”

This was a disaster, Rob concluded. They could always try telling the pirates they had their money. Meet up with them like they wanted to. But then they lost any element of surprise Rob, Dan, and Jev might have, and it probably wasn’t the safest way to get Felipe back.

“Maybe we should try asking again,” Jev said. He’s spotted someone out of the corner of his eye, but he was trying not to attract too much attention to the German watching them. “If we split up we would be able to-.”

“Split up?” Rob asked. “So you two can run off, you mean?”

“We would already be gone if we were going to run off,” Jev pointed out. He knew Rob could see that. “Why don’t you take Dan into the bar over there and see if anyone has seen him.”

“And where are you going?” Rob asked.

“Three men walk into a little shop and ask if they have seen an infamous pirate?” Jev said. “Do you think they are going to answer even if they _do_ know where Webber is?”

Rob ran a hand through his hair. He guessed Jev was right, but he didn’t like it.

“Fine,” he said, taking Dan by the wrist. “Come on.”

Dan looked back at Jev, confused, but the Frenchman just nodded. He needed to speak to Sebastian and it probably wasn’t going to be a very good idea to do that with Rob there.

As soon as Dan and Rob had disappeared into the bar, Jev skipped up the street to where Sebastian was waiting.

“Where are they?”

“Who?” Sebastian asked.

“Do not treat me like an idiot, Sebastian,” Jev hissed. “Know you and Webber have Felipinho’s father. Where are they?

“There’s something wrong with Mark,” Sebastian said. “He’s acting really strange. Jenson and I are really worried about him.”

“Wrong with him?” Jev asked. “He’s ill.”

“No,” Sebastian said. “Well, maybe, but not the kind of ill I can treat. Ill in his mind. He is acting crazy and we do not know how to stop him. He hasn’t hurt Felipinho’s father – not yet – but I wouldn’t put it past him. He is not the same person anymore.”

Sebastian was hoping he would get better if they got money of some kind, but he didn’t think they were going to get that kind of luck any time soon, so he and Jenson needed another plan. First, they needed to get Felipe out of this mess, then they could work on something themselves.

“What do you expect us to do about it?” Jev asked. “They are not going to stop looking until they find Felipinho’s father and you are not going to get a penny for him. They don’t _have_ money. Tell Webber you’ve made a mistake and give him back.”

“He’s already tried to tell Mark that but he won’t listen,” Sebastian said. “Felipinho’s father is the only way Mark thinks we can make any money. But Jenson and I know and you know and we need to do something.”

“You have a plan?” Jev asked.

“Jenson does,” Sebastian said. At least, he _hoped_ Jenson did. “He wants to meet with the three of you tonight.”

“And you can make sure Felipinho’s father stays safe for that long?” Jev asked. He didn’t like the idea of leaving anybody with Webber for that long. He’d seen what the captain had done to Felipinho when he’d found the child on the ship, and that was when he was his usual self, never mind when there’s something wrong with him.

“Probably,” Sebastian said, a little nervously. Hopefully.

“Alright,” Jev said. “Where and when?”

 

“Seb’s taking his time,” Mark muttered. He was getting tired now, but he knew he needed to stay awake. Maybe he would have a nap when Sebastian got back, but really they needed at least two of them to watch Felipe, he’d figured.

“Hmm?” Jenson mumbled, stretching in his chair. He had _not_ fallen asleep. He’d just been resting his eyes whilst he thought of what he was going to say when he met that evening.

“I said Seb’s taking his time,” Mark repeating, stretching himself so he could kick Felipe awake.

“Probably got lost,” Jenson said, peering out the window into the now slightly busier street. People were beginning to do business again, the day having properly started in Port Elizabeth whilst he was resting his eyes. He hoped Sebastian hadn’t gotten lost. It would only make Mark even more suspicious.

“What time is it?” Felipe asked from the floor, trying to look out the window to see if he could figure it out himself.

“Does it matter?” Mark asked.

“Guess not,” Felipe muttered, falling back into a slouch against the wall. He knew Rob and the others wouldn’t be coming for him anyway, but he was just trying to figure out how long he was going to have to wait before the pirates gave up this plan.

“The fuck has he gone?” Mark asked.

“Just for a walk,” Jenson said, quickly. “He probably found some girl whilst he was out and is pestering her now. Or he got lost. You know Sebastian.”

He knew Sebastian. And neither of those things sounded like Sebastian to him. Something wasn’t right here. Mark turned back to Jenson, trying to figure out what he was hiding, but the Brit was looking out of the window again.

“I thought you sent him out for food,” Mark said.

“What? Oh, yeah, I did,” Jenson said, quickly, glancing back over at Mark. _Where was he?_

“Where did he really go?” Mark asked.

“What?” Jenson said, laughing. “Mark, are you alright?”

“I know when you’re lying to me, Jenson,” Mark said, standing. “Where did Sebastian go?”

Felipe watched from the floor as Mark took a step towards Jenson. Jenson laughed in confusion and stood too.

“What is wrong, Mark?” he asked. “Sebastian went for a walk and to try and get some food. He’s never been in this kind of position, has he? He’s all panicky and needed to step out for some air. Calm down?”

“You tell me where he’s gone or I ask him when he gets back,” Mark said, pushing Jenson back until the cook felt his back against the glass. “Oh look, here he comes now.”

Jenson glanced out the window, a little relieved to find Sebastian hurrying up the street to the inn they were staying in. He didn’t know why he was so relieved, though. It wasn’t as if Sebastian was going to know what he had told the captain and Mark was going to _know_ he was lying.

Everyone’s eyes were on the door when Sebastian walked in and the German fell to a stop instantly, looking between the three faces that all looked up at him.

“Where have you been?” Mark asked. He sounded innocent but the look on his face told Sebastian he knew something was wrong. Behind him, Jenson was nodding, encouragingly, but Sebastian couldn’t figure out what he was supposed to be encouraging.

“Went for… a… walk,” Sebastian said, slowly, treading carefully and showing it.

“A walk?” Mark asked. “Where’s the food?”

“Food?” Sebastian asked before he could stop himself. “Oh, yeah, I…”

He didn’t know what to say and Jenson’s nodding was beginning to distract him.

“I forgot.”

“You forgot,” Mark said. He was smiling as he stood but Sebastian didn’t trust him. “Come on, Sebby. We’re starving.”

“Sorry,” Sebastian mumbled again, hoping that was going to be the end of it.

“Mark,” Jenson snapped as the captain pushed Sebastian against the wall. “Mark, mate, this isn’t going to help.”

“Where did you go?” Mark asked through gritted teeth, the smile gone now.

“Just for a walk,” Sebastian said, watching Jenson over Mark’s shoulder and waiting for the Brit to pull him away, But Jenson just stood there, frozen and begging Sebastian to come up with a better lie.

“One more time, Seb,” Mark said. “And if you lie to me again, you’re going out the window.”

“Mark, what is the matter with you!” Sebastian cried, trying to slide away from the captain. “I just went for a walk, Mark. What do you think I did?”

“Right,” Mark snapped, grabbing the front of Sebastian’s shirt with both hands and dragging him across the room.

“Mark!”

“Come on mate, don’t be stupid.”

“It’s not me who thinks I’m stupid,” Mark snapped. “You think I can’t tell when my own ship mates are working against me? You think I wouldn’t know?”

“We didn’t do anything,” Sebastian cried again, feeling his back against the glass.

Mark held him there for a moment, looking out past Sebastian and into the street below them. Sebastian gulped, glancing down too. There wasn’t much chance of a safe landing if he was thrown down there.

“He went to see Dan and Jev,” Jenson said, quickly. He’d seen what Mark had been like in the cart on the way to Port Elizabeth and he knew the captain didn’t make empty threats.

Mark’s grip on Sebastian’s shirt loosened a little as he turned to the cook. The anger on his face gave way to confusion for a moment before returning.

“You went where?”

“This isn’t going to work, Mark,” Jenson cried, pulling the Australian away from Sebastian. “You know it’s not going to work. If you could just get back to normal, you would see that. They don’t have the money to pay for him.”

“Well if that’s the case, someone will buy him, won’t they?” Mark said. He _knew_ what he was doing. He’d been doing this for years, hadn’t he? Decades? They both told him they trusted him and the first sign of trouble they were running scared to the enemy. They were no better than Dan and Jev.

“Don’t be stupid, Mark,” Jenson said. “There are a million better ways to get out of this mess than this. This is only going to make things worse.”

“No, the only thing that’s made things worse is you going behind my back,” Mark snapped before turning back to Sebastian. “When are you meeting them?”

“What?”

“When. Are. You. Meeting. Them?” Mark repeated slowly.

Sebastian glanced back towards the window and gulped. No, it was probably better to just tell him the truth.

“Tonight, at the Coach and Horses Inn,” Sebastian said, quietly.

“Right,” Mark said, stepping away from Sebastian. “I’m going.”

“What?”

“You can’t,” Jenson said. “Mark, just let me sort this out. Come on mate.”

“I am going,” Mark said again. “And we are going to get our money.”


	29. Meeting

Rob did not trust the pirates. Yes, Jev hadn’t run off whilst he had been with Dan searching for Webber and the others, but that didn’t mean the Frenchman had been doing as he’d told Rob he was doing and, when Jev told Rob about the meeting at the inn he had arranged with someone who knew where Webber was, he didn’t believe him. Not for a second.

“And why couldn’t he tell you where this guy was, then?” Rob said, his arms crossed. It would be a set up, or an ambush, not that Rob knew what an ambush would get the pirates when he had next to nothing on him and only a little more at home.

Jev shrugged. His little plan hadn’t covered many of Rob’s questions. He probably should have thought this through a little more, but Sebastian hadn’t exactly given him a lot of time to convince him, and he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Dan about this without the trader there.

“He would not say,” Jev said. “But I trust him. Would trust him with my life.”

“I don’t,” Rob said. Part of him was tempted. The search for Webber was getting them nowhere and he was growing irritated. They’d already narrowly missed a fight in the inn over some twat’s sarcastic comment, and Rob really didn’t know how much longer he would last without getting himself into trouble. But this all felt rather strange to him. It was a trap, he was certain.

“He knows where they are,” Jev said. “Maybe just Dan and I go? You wait outside if you do not trust him?”

“So you two can run off, you mean?” Rob said. “I ain’t thick.”

“If we were going to run off, we would already have done it, mate,” Dan pointed out, as he and Jev must have done at least ten times that day.

“You’re not leaving my sight,” Rob said.

“Then you are going to have to come in with us,” Jev said. “It is either that or we do not find Webber or your friend. Are you going to be the one that tells Felipinho and his mother that you did not even try?”

“I am not walking into a trap,” Rob said, but what Jev said made him shiver. It was the exact same argument he’d given Felipe to convince him to let the pirates heal Felipinho.

“I will take that as a yes then,” Jev said. “You _did_ promise her you would bring her husband back. I would not want to be in your shoes.”

Rob didn’t really like the idea of having that conversation any more than Felipe would have wanted to explain why he hadn’t let the pirates save Felipinho. They had done that, hadn’t they? They’d saved Felipinho’s life when they could easily have tried to escape, like the other three did. Maybe he could trust them.

“Why do you trust him?” Rob asked.

“He has never done anything to make him not trust me,” Jev lied. Sebastian wasn’t exactly the _most_ untrustworthy Jev had ever met, or even the most untrustworthy person that had been a member of Captain Webber’s crew. After all, he’d not told anybody about Felipinho and come and found them when the child was discovered. Of anybody on the ship, Sebastian was probably the most likely to be on their side.

“Is that all?” Rob asked, suspiciously. It wasn’t entirely convincing.

“We have trusted him before and he has never betrayed us,” Jev said, not feeling any need to go into any further detail.

Rob didn’t reply straight away. He looked from Jev to Dan, who hadn’t said much all day, not wanting to put his foot in anything.

“Alright,” Rob said, eventually. “We’ll go. But if anything happens to me, the Governor will-.”

“Nothing will happen,” Jev promised. At least, he hoped not.

 

“Up,” Mark barked, and neither of the three men in the room knew exactly who he was talking to when they all turned to face him.

It wasn’t long until they were going to have to head off to meet Jev and the others, and Mark hadn’t said much since he found out. Nobody had said much. Sebastian had managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours, but it was an unpleasant and light sleep where he woke up feeling worse than when he’d gone to sleep. Jenson had been trying to think of a way out of this. He had never been the one in the group to come up with ideas, unless it was about how to make something more exciting to eat out of flour and water, and even then he hadn’t been that successful.

“Come on,” Mark said, when nobody moved. “Up.”

A not so gentle nudge of the captain’s foot in Felipe’s side was the only evidence as to who he was talking to, and the trader struggled to his feet, his hands still tied.

“Where are you going?” Jenson asked.

“We’re going to meet the traitors, aren’t we?” Mark said. “Come on, you two. You’re coming too.”

“But… do you really want to take him?” Jenson said. Just when he thought he knew what he was dealing with, even if he hadn’t yet worked out a way to deal with it, Mark threw another spanner in the works.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Mark asked.

“You’re not scared he’s going to… run off?” Jenson said, searching for ideas. Maybe if he could get Mark to leave Felipe here with him he would be able to… get himself in a lot of trouble with the captain, yes, but get the trader away from here.

“You’re not going to run off, are you?” Mark asked, turning to Felipe.

Felipe quickly shook his head, having learned by now to keep his mouth shut.

“You see?” Mark said, smiling. “Nothing to worry about. Let’s go.”

Jenson and Sebastian shared a nervous look, neither one of them knowing what to do next.

“You either go down the stairs, or you go out the window,” Mark said, cheerfully. “Either way, you’re going down there.”

“Alright,” Jenson said, quickly, taking hold of Sebastian’s wrist and dragging him towards the door before Mark could do anything to him.

“What are we going to do?” Sebastian asked, quietly.

“I’ll think of something,” Jenson murmured back. “Don’t worry.”

 

It wasn’t the nicest inn Dan and Jev had ever been in, but it definitely wasn’t the worse and, in Port Elizabeth, the smile that the owner gave the three men as they entered was definitely a luxury. The bar area was fairly empty when the three of them arrived, but a few more people came in as they waited, observing them with a cold glare before going to their usual seats. Dan was holding Jev’s hand under the table and the Frenchman was rubbing circles into the back of his hand with his thumb. It wasn’t exactly calm, Dan was sure he couldn’t be calm at a time like this, but it made him feel a little better. Jev was there and it was going to be ok.

Rob wasn’t looking at the pair, staring into his untouched drink and looking up every time the door opened. He hadn’t been ambushed or anything just yet. What the pirates thought they could get from him by ambushing him, he didn’t know, but they’d thought they’d get something for Felipe, so he wasn’t going to take any risks. Besides the enormous risk he was taking just by being here.

“They’re late,” Rob mumbled after a while, glancing up at Dan and Jev before quickly looking away.

“Will be here,” Jev promised. They had to be here.

“When?” Rob asked. It was already dark outside and, if they didn’t get Felipe tonight, he was going to have to find somewhere to stay tonight, which wasn’t entirely appealing.

“Soon,” Jev promised, glancing over to the door when another group of strangers came in. He couldn’t think of any reason why they wouldn’t come. This was Jenson’s idea, after all. Unless Webber had found out… If Webber had found out, it was probably better for them if they didn’t come.

They fell back into an awkward silence when Rob didn’t reply, none of them knowing what else to say now. They were so close to all this being over, but just waiting wasn’t doing any of them any good.

Dan squeezed Jev’s hand tighter as the door opened again and a familiar face entered the bar area. Jev stood, pulling his hand away from Dan’s, to greet Sebastian, but the look of relief on his face was wiped away as soon as he saw who followed him into the bar.

“Felipe!”

Rob knew he should probably have come across cooler than this, but he couldn’t stop himself running across the room to his friend, only for Webber to hold a hand up.

“Come any closer and he dies,” the captain said and Rob stopped, his hands balling into fists.

“Am ok,” Felipe said, quietly, knowing how Rob must have been feeling.

“Anywhere private we can go?” Webber asked the owner.

The man led them through to the back room, nodding to Webber as he left. Jev was watching Jenson and Sebastian, neither of whom looked happy to be here. He’d managed to fall for Webber’s trick though. Whether Sebastian had _wanted_ to trick him didn’t matter. They were here now.

Webber dragged out a chair from the table and pushed Felipe into it before sitting beside him. Rob and the other pirates stood around the table, waiting for Webber to say something. Rob glanced over at Dan and Jev, trying to tell if this was something they had planned all along, but they looked just as shocked as he was.

“Well,” Webber said. “Have you got our money?”

“We don’t… we don’t _have_ that kind of money,” Rob said, trying to gain some confidence in his voice but finding none.

“No?” Webber said. “Well, that is a shame.”

Sebastian glanced over Jenson’s shoulder at the door they had just come in through. They could probably sneak out, if Mark was focused on getting the money from the trader. No, he didn’t want to leave Dan and Jev behind but, right now, it was every man for himself.

“How do you plan on getting the money?” Webber asked.

“What?” Rob spluttered.

“Tell me how you plan on getting me my money,” Webber repeated. “Or else I’ll find my own way.”

Felipe wouldn’t take his eyes off of Rob, unable to tell if his friend thought the pirate was bluffing or not. Not that there was anything that Rob could do anyway.

“I can’t get you your money,” Rob said, as plainly and simply as he could. There was no way he could raise half as much as they wanted. “Sir,” _He shouldn’t have to be treating these criminals like human beings, let alone with respect_. “We earn enough money to put our kids through school and in good clothes. There’s hardly anything left after that.”

“I saw the reward you put out there for the boy,” Mark said. He wasn’t an idiot and he wasn’t about to be taken for one either. They’d offered more for the boy’s safe return than what he was demanding. There was no way he was going to listen to lies about being unable to afford it.

“That wasn’t set by us,” Rob said. “It was just… it was just to get to whoever had him. It was the governor, the man who owned the ship you stole. He wanted his money back and he wanted to get to you. He was never going to pay the reward.”

“This governor,” Webber said. “He has money?”

“None that he’s willing to part with,” Rob said. “He wouldn’t even pay anything for Felipinho. Please. You’re not getting anywhere like this.”

Begging wasn’t going to work but the words slipped out before he could stop himself.

“It is true,” Jev jumped in, watching Sebastian sneak towards the door out of the corner of his eye. “We met him. He is a vile man and he would not pay a penny for anybody. The only reason we are free is because he thinks we will bring you back with us.”

Mark considered the pirate. Jev had never caused much trouble for him. He hadn’t exactly been the most willing of men to board his ship, and Mark knew he was only there in the first place because of Dan, but he did what he was told to do without arguing too much. He’d kept his head down and Mark wasn’t sure whether he should trust him or not. He trusted his instinct. Which said no. Don’t trust anybody.

“Well,” he said. “If you can’t get us our money, like I said, we’ll find somebody who will.”

He grabbed hold of Felipe’s wrist, dragging the trader out of his chair.

“Wait,” Rob said, quickly. “Wait a second. We’ll think of something. Work something out.”

They weren’t going to get this chance again and he couldn’t let it go so soon.

“Work what out?” Mark asked.

Jenson tore his eyes away from Mark when he noticed Jev nod towards something out of the corner of his eye. He looked around, a little surprised to find Sebastian had disappeared. He looked back at Mark, but it was clear the captain hadn’t noticed the doctor’s disappearance.

“You don’t want to do this,” Rob said. This was not familiar ground and he had no idea if what he was saying was going to work, but he had to try. “The governor already wants your head on a stick and if he finds out you’re here, he’s going to come for you. Why make it any worse for yourself?”

“I’m not entirely sure how it can get any worse,” Webber said. “If he wants me dead anyway? Why not do what I like?”

“Because,” Rob said, as if that was an answer. “Because you’re ruining people’s lives.”

Webber laughed. “That isn’t much of a concern to me, mate,” he said. “As long as my life is fine, I really could not care less about yours.”

“But this isn’t making _your_ life any better either,” Rob said.

“Can you smell burning?” Dan asked, suddenly.

Jev frowned and took a deep breath. Yes, he could smell burning.

“Do you know how much a good sailor can sell for?” Webber asked with a smirk, ignoring Dan and Jev.

“You can’t do that,” Rob said. “Don’t you have any morals? At all?”

“You do know who you’re talking to, don’t you?” Webber laughed. “Morals are little concern to me. Do you think those men of yours we sent overboard thought we had morals?”

Rob fell silent, his hands balling into fists at his side.

“Something is definitely burning,” Dan said. “We need to get out.”

“Seb, go and find out what’s wrong,” Mark said, turning around and only now finding that Sebastian was missing. His eyes flicked up to Jenson, the accusation on the tip of his tongue as he stood.

“I don’t... _Mark_.”

“Come on,” Rob hissed, grabbing hold of Felipe’s wrist.

“No, _you_ are not going anywhere,” Mark said, turning back to Rob and Felipe.

“Mark we need to go,” Jenson hissed.

The smell of burning was definitely in the air now, a thin layer of smoke seeping in from above the door, but nobody dared move. Mark looked between the five men left in the room, trying to decide which was the most trust worthy here. As bad as Jenson had been to him over the past day, it was going to have to be the cook.

“Go and find out what’s going on,” the captain said, turning back to him.

“Mark, we need to leave,” Jenson said, calmly. His friend had to still be in his head somewhere. Maybe it was the panic and unusualness of the situation that was making Mark freak out. Maybe it was the prospect of the unfamiliar future he was so close to. It didn’t matter. Mark would be in there somewhere.

“Go and find out what’s going on,” Mark said in the same calm tone and, if Jenson wasn’t looking at the crazed look in the Australian’s eye, he would have thought he had his friend back.

The Brit looked over the other men in the room. Standing here arguing with Mark wasn’t going to save any of them from whatever was burning.

“I won’t be long,” he promised, ducking out of the door which Webber slammed shut after him.

“Right then,” the captain continued. “Have you seen any sense?”

“What do you want us to do?” Rob asked, seriously. “Because we can’t get you your money but I am not leaving here without him.”

“Could both come with me,” Webber said. “I don’t think there would be anybody complaining about that.”

Jev squeezed Dan’s hand in his, not taking his eyes off of the captain. He needed to get Dan out of here, especially if something really was burning. They should have gone that morning, when they had a chance, but it was too late for that now. He just had to get Dan to leave, without attracting Webber’s attention.

“Why don’t we just go our separate ways,” Rob suggested. “I’ll take Felipe with me, and you leave. Because the governor is coming. Felipinho’s mother will have contacted him and he’ll be on his way. We’re offering you a way out of here.”

“And I can’t go without him?” Webber asked.

“I’m not _letting_ you go without him,” Rob said, sternly.


	30. Fire

Jenson was greeted by a disaster scene. The bar area was already empty, tables and chairs pushed aside as people had left. The source of the smoke clear, an entire wall engulfed in flames. Jenson almost immediately turned back to get Mark and the others out when he spotted Sebastian, crouching beside a table, coughing his guts up as smoke filled his lungs.

“What happened!” Jenson cried, hurrying over to the doctor.

“I was trying to help,” Sebastian said between bursts of his coughing fit. His eyes were watering with fear and the stinging of the smoke

“Help how?” Jenson said, covering his own mouth with the sleeve of his shirt and pulling Sebastian up. This wasn’t going to help them at all. What _had_ the German been thinking to believe this was a good idea?

“I… distraction,” Sebastian said, letting Jenson pull him out of the inn and into the street. “I thought it would get you all out, but when you didn’t come out… so I had to come back in. To try and warn you.”

The street was full of people all staring at the burning building, whispering to each other when they saw the two pirates emerge. Jenson couldn’t tell how safe the building was, but he didn’t have much of a choice but to go back inside.

“Are you insane?” Jenson asked, honestly. It was the only explanation he could find. First Mark, and now Sebastian.

“I was trying to help,” Sebastian said, weakly, sitting down in the middle of the street and trying to get his breath back.

Jenson just shook his head and turned back to the building. Really, Mark should have had the sense to get out of there now. Money or not, he needed his life if he was going to go off with the women he’d managed to get pregnant. But Jenson wasn’t really sure what to expect from the Australian right now.

“Wait here,” Jenson told Sebastian, waiting only for the doctor to lift his head to answer before rushing back into the building.

 

Smoke was now pouring into the room and Jev knew he had to get them both out of there. Dan at least, though preferably them both. Neither Webber nor Rob had said anything, or done anything, and if it weren’t for their blinks Jev might have thought they’d both died from smoke inhalation.

As discreetly as possible, Jev nudged Dan, but it seemed too discreet for the Australian, who didn’t even notice. Dan was coughing heavily, leaning against his friend whilst they waited for the dead lock to be broken.

Jev didn’t think he’d had a regret in his life as big as not leaving that morning and, as much as he kept telling himself that that didn’t matter anymore and Dan probably wouldn’t have been that easy to convince, he couldn’t help the sinking feeling that they probably weren’t going to get out of this alive because of that mistake.

Unless they just made a run for it.

“This is stupid,” Rob said, breaking the silence. “You’re willing to die for money.”

“We are going to have to go _now_ ,” Jev said, hoping his old captain might see sense, somehow.

“If there was that big a problem, Jenson would have come and told us, wouldn’t he?” Mark pointed out, as if the smoke filling the room and the rising heat didn’t make the fact there was something wrong was very obvious. “I am not going anywhere until we have settled this.”

“Come on, Dan,” Jev grumbled, taking hold of Dan and helping him towards the door. Webber could try to do what he wanted to them. They were going to die if they stayed here any longer, he figured. He pushed the Australian towards the door, watching Webber all the while to see when he would make his move.

“Open that door, and I’ll shoot you both,” Mark said, not even looking away from Rob, when Jev reached for the door handle. The Frenchman ignored him, grabbing hold of the door handle, only to snatch his hand away immediately, his palm burnt.

“There is a fire,” Jev said, unhelpfully. “Captain? We have to get out of here or we will all be dead.”

“Not my problem,” Webber said, leaning back in his chair.

“You being dead is not your problem?” Rob cried. He was speaking to a mad man. He really didn’t have any hope. None of them were getting out alive if he was going to play any of the pirate’s stupid games.

“We’ll find another way,” Jev murmured into Dan’s ear as the Australian slumped against the wall beside the door. There had to be another way out. The room was small and windowless, though. The only way out _was_ the door with the fire behind it.

“What do you want from me?” Rob asked, seriously, sitting down opposite Webber again as if that would help at all. “Seriously? What do you expect from me? To let him go? Because that ain’t happening. And we can’t get you your money. So what. Do. You. Want?”

 

Jenson could see the door as the fire licked around it, but there was no way he could get any closer safely. The sensible part of his brain was telling him to turn back and get out. To run. There wouldn’t be much longer when even that was a safe option, judging by the fire’s progress, and if he didn’t want to be buried and burn alive he was going to have to go as soon as possible. But Mark was his best friend and, sure, the guy would have pushed him off of the cart on the way here, but he’d earned Jenson’s loyalty over the years.

Why they hadn’t come out yet, he didn’t know. Other than the fact Mark had gone insane, and the only explanation Jenson could come up with was if the Captain was keeping them all there.

His shirt sleeve covering his face again, Jenson edged closer to the door, doing his best to try to get past the flames without being burnt, but it was no use. The Brit screwed his eyes shut and ran through the flames, slamming into the door on the other side.

The door flew open, sending Dan, behind it, flying and making everybody in the room look up as the smoke that had been seeping into the room through the gap above the door now poured in. For a couple of moments, only confusion and annoyance registered on Mark’s face, before the seriousness of the situation settled in and Jenson saw a flicker of fear on his old friend’s face before the old Mark came back.

“Up,” he ordered, practically dragging Felipe out of his chair as he stood.

Jenson would have sighed with relief if the air would let him. Instead, he grabbed hold of the nearest person and pulled him out of the room whilst the others followed. Mark had joined Jenson with his hand over his face, doing his best to stop the smoke that was stinging his throat and eyes. Blindly, he tried to follow the cook, knocking into fallen tables that he couldn’t see as he squinted his eyes. Someone stumbled behind him, but he didn’t look back long enough to look, following Jenson out into the street.

Rob was half dragging Felipe through the room. Every time he stopped and opened his mouth to ask if Felipe was ok, another coughing fit started and he decided it was probably better to get outside before he tried a third time.

There was a small cheer as they got out of the building before a crash from inside sent everyone silent. Sebastian lurched forwards, into Mark, babbling away in German as he tried to make an apology.

“Are you alright?” Rob finally asked, collapsing onto the cobbles beside Felipe.

Felipe nodded, falling against Rob and closing his eyes. He was fine. Exhausted, but fine.

“Dan?” Jev pulled himself away from Jenson and looked around, his legs weak below him but still managing to keep him up. He looked around the crowd again, searching for a face that wasn’t there. “Where’s Dan?”

Jenson looked around, trying to find the Australian but there was definitely somebody missing here. He turned back to Jev just as the Frenchman attempted to launch himself back into the building.

“Don’t be stupid,” Jenson cried, pulling Jev away from the flame torn building.

“Cannot just leave him in there,” Jev cried, fighting back tears and pulling himself away from Jenson. He managed to get free from the Brit and would have gotten back into the inn if Rob hadn’t helped Jenson pull him away again.

Something inside the building shifted and there was another crash. Everyone froze for a moment and Jev used the stunned silence to pull away from the men holding him back and dive back into the burning building.

 

Dan tried to himself up on a stool, only for his arm to give way and he fell back to the floor, slamming his head on the stool. Cradling his arm a little, the Australian stood, but he could barely see through the smoke now and stumbled into another table as one of the beams above his head gave way.

He was going to die. He was actually going to die.

“Dan!”

Dan couldn’t see where the voice was coming from and, when he tried to move, he found his leg stuck.

“Dan!” The call was followed by a coughing fit but he was sure the voice was getting closer.

Dan opened his mouth to try to call back but all he could manage was a coughing fit in return.

Everything was getting dark now, stars appearing before his eyes when he tried to move his leg. It took a couple of seconds for the pain to register and, when he looked around to see what his leg was trapped under, he realised why he couldn’t move.

“Dan!”

There were tears in Jev’s eyes, smoke stinging them and his throat. He couldn’t see Dan and figured he must have been lower, on the floor somewhere. The lower he went, the thinner the smoke was and Jev crouched on the floor, looking for his friend. He had to be here. He had to be ok.

“Dan!”

“Jev!”

The shout was more of a muffled splutter, but it was there, followed by a coughing fit Jev knew wasn’t his own this time. He moved towards it quickly, finding Dan and what he assumed to be the cause of the crash.

“My leg’s trapped,” Dan said, reaching out for Jev as he saw the feet come closer. “I can’t move it.”

“It will be ok,” Jev said, dropping to his hands and knees. There was no way he could move the beam. “I am going to get you out of this.”

“I know you’re going to get me out of this,” Dan said, screwing his eyes shut and trying as hard as he could to pull his leg out from under the weight but the pain and the smoke just made him feel even fainter. “I can’t do it.”

“Do not hurt yourself anymore,” Jev said, trying his best to move the beam. It didn’t move an inch.

“It’s not working,” Dan moaned.

“I am not leaving here without you, Daniel,” Jev said.

“I don’t want you to leave here without me!” Dan cried. “I want you to get me out!”

Jev huffed a laugh, glad the fact that they were probably both going to die here didn’t change anything about his friend. It was no laughing matter though. They were going to die.

“I am not leaving here without you Daniel,” Jev said, his lips brushing over Dan’s ear as he spoke. “I am not leaving here.”


	31. No Goodbyes

“Dead?” the governor said again, as if it wasn’t clear enough the first time.

“Yes sir,” Rob said, his voice having gotten quieter and quieter throughout the little meeting. He glanced up at Felipinho, sat on his mother’s lap beside Rob’s wife. The child had tears trailing down his cheeks and Rob gulped back his own.

“Well,” the governor said, his eyes flicking between the two traders. “I guess the only question now is what the two prisoners were doing in Port Elizabeth.”

His eyes stopped on Rob. “They escaped,” Rob said, his voice even quieter than before. He knew his father in law wouldn’t believe that.

“They escaped,” the governor said, slowly. “A strange coincidence that they went to the same place you did.”

“They went to try to help Felipinho,” Rob said.

The child sat forward at the sound of his name but his mother shushed him before he could say anything, rocking him gently so he would stay quiet.

“They went to find a child of their own accord,” the governor said. Clearly he didn’t believe a word Rob said, but Rob didn’t care. It was the truth, or as much of the truth as his father in law was ever going to know about. And he had more important things to deal with than the whims of a silly old man. “Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore,” he said. “They’re dead. Nothing I lost could be recovered, but they’re dead.”

“Yes sir,” Rob said.

“They can’t be dead,” Felipinho said. “You promised. You promised, Uncle Rob. You said they weren’t going to get hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” Rob said. And he genuinely was. When he’d made that promise, he knew it had never meant anything, but now all he felt was guilt. They should never have been in that fire.

“You can go now,” the governor said. “Though you cannot expect the same wages as you were on before.”

“Of course not,” Rob said, nodding. His children would be allowed the same quality of life. There was no way the governor would let his grand children suffer. Rob had nothing to worry about.

“Yes, you can go,” the governor said when Rob didn’t move.

Rob looked up at him, biting back his tongue. His father in law didn’t even care. That was the worst part. He didn’t see two men who had died. He saw a missed opportunity for a public hanging. He didn’t see how distraught Felipinho was. He didn’t see any of it.

“Come on,” Felipe said, quietly, leading Rob out of the room as quickly as he could. Rob shot one more glare at his father in law before taking Felipinho from Raffaela and leading the small party outside.

Felipinho squirmed against him.

“You promised, Uncle Rob,” he said again, pushing himself as far away from the Brit as possible without letting himself be dropped onto the floor. “You promised they were going to be ok and now they’re _dead_. They were good people, Uncle Rob. They looked after me.”

“I know,” Rob said, gently. “It’s ok. It’s going to be ok.”

“Not going to be ok,” Felipinho said, burying his face in Rob’s chest so he could cry some more. It wasn’t going to be ok and there was nothing he could do to make it any better.

 

“Will she be happy?”

Sebastian was gone. Jenson was sure he would be ok. He was a skilled worker and, if he couldn’t find honest work, he’d find dishonest work somewhere. Convincing him to leave Mark behind had been easier than expected, but Jenson knew the two of them wouldn’t be good for one another now. Sebastian needed a fresh start, and the young German had taken that opportunity. Convincing Mark he was right was something Jenson was finding a little more difficult.

Mark nodded. They were on their way to another town, walking at the side of their road. And then they would go their separate ways. Or that was the plan, anyway.

“Of course she will be,” he said. “It’s what we both want.”

Jenson shakes his head slightly, looking down at the floor. This wasn’t what Mark wanted. Mark would have been more prepared than this if it was what he wanted, with or without the attack from Alonso.

“You’ll have to get a normal job,” Jenson pointed out. “Fit into society. Work for the crown.”

They had nothing. Not a penny between them. Jenson knew this wasn’t how Mark wanted his fresh start to go. Maybe there was still a chance to get him to change his mind.

“I know,” Mark said through gritted teeth. He didn’t need reminding that his retirement wasn’t exactly what he had in mind. “Don’t worry about me mate. I’ll get a good job. I land on my feet, don’t I? That kid will get the best of everything and I won’t have to worry about a thing, so don’t you worry.”

“You’ll end up working on a ship, you know,” Jenson said. “You’ll get to see the kid just as often as if we’d carried on. Maybe even less. You’ll earn less than what we were making.”

“We have made nothing.”

“You’ll have no defence against pirates,” Jenson pointed out. “Wouldn’t it be ironic if you were killed by pirates whilst trying to work a legal job for a kid you don’t even want?”

“I want this child,” Mark said, stopping. “I’ve not even met it, but I love it. And I am going to do everything I can to be there for it and provide for it.”

Jenson stopped too, standing a little way ahead of Mark and turning to his friend. The evidence of the fire clung to the Australian’s clothes, the events of the past week or so etching deeper lines into his face than the rest of his decades at sea put together. Jenson had seen Mark this worn, this beaten down, this ready to give up only one time before. They could both pretend he was the legendary Mark Webber, who didn’t have to live up to his name for the legends to be true, but they both knew this man existed.

“Come with me,” Jenson said, holding out a hand.

Mark shook his head, suddenly unable to take another step. “I am going to her and I am going to provide for her.”

“You’re a stubborn git, aren’t you,” Jenson said, provoking a hint of a smile on Mark’s face. He took the couple of steps back to stand beside Mark and sighed. “We got through this before, we’ll get through it again.”

“I want to be there for it,” Mark said.

“And you will be,” Jenson said. “You’re your own captain, aren’t you? We’ll head back to port as often as need be. We’ll work it out.”

Mark bit his lip. This wasn’t the plan. None of this had been the plan, but this definitely wasn’t the plan.

“Where do we start?”

 

“I hate you all!” Felipinho cried, tugging and trying to pull his hand out of his father’s grip. “They were nice people and you hurt them. You promised you wouldn’t hurt them but you did and I hate you!”

He couldn’t pull his hand away from his father’s no matter how hard he tried. Giant tears wobbled down his face and, with every breath, he choked for air. Raffaela had given up trying to calm him down now, having come to the conclusion that it was no use.

Felipe was smiling though, as if his son’s tears amused him. Rob was doing his best to keep a straight face too, but the thought of what was about to happen had the edges of his lips curling a little.

“They were no even bad people,” Felipinho moaned, his legs shaking and falling from under him. He wasn’t moving any further. He was going to sit right here because he didn’t want to go home with any of them. “They were my friends and you were nasty to them and now they’re dead and it’s not fair.”

Felipe sighed, holding back a laugh, and lifted Felipinho up to sit on his hip.

“No, don’t _want_ to go with you,” Felipinho screamed. “You are a bad man. Don’t want to go with you. Put me _down_ Papa! Don’t like it.”

“Stop squirming or I am going to drop you,” Felipe said, ignoring the funny looks from passers-by. “And then you will go splat on the floor and you will not get to see your surprise.”

“I don’t _want_ any surpri- what surprise?” Felipinho asked, stopping suddenly and looking curiously up at his father.

Rob had to bite back a grin and Felipe almost burst out laughing this time.

“Papa, what surprise?” Felipinho asked.

“You will have to wait and see when we get home,” Felipe said.

Felipinho frowned, not sure if he really trusted his father after everything that had happened and turned to his mother instead.

“Mummy, what surprise?” Felipinho asked.

“A surprise surprise,” Raffaela said. “It will not be a surprise if we tell you now, will it?”

“Is it a good surprise?” Felipinho asked.

Raffaela nodded. “A very good surprise.”

 

It felt strange to be home again, Felipinho thought. He hadn’t been home in a very long time and, after the excitement of the past few days, all he really wanted was to go to sleep. He wanted his nice warm, comfy bed, and all his blankets and none of the itchy ones. He knew he was safe here, that there were not going to be any pirates or policemen come to take him away here.

“Bath and bed time?” Felipinho asked, turning to his mother. He hadn’t had a bath and bed time in such a long time.

“You have your surprise first,” Raffaela said, beaming now they were back in the safety of their house and there was no need to hide any excitement.

Felipinho’s eyes widened as he remembered the surprise.

“What is it?”

“Why don’t you go upstairs and find out,” Felipe suggested.

Felipinho looked between his parents, trying to figure out what his surprise might be, then grinned and spun around to rush up the stairs. He didn’t know what might be waiting for him, but it must be good. His parents wouldn’t be so happy if it wasn’t good.

“Dan! Jev!”

The five year old shrieked as Dan lifted him up into the air, clutching on for dear life so that he wasn’t dropped or Dan didn’t disappear. Jev grinned at the pair of them from where he was sat on Felipinho’s bed.

“But… but Uncle Rob said…” Felipinho said when Dan finally stopped spinning him. He peered up at the pirate, trying to figure out if this was real or not. His fingers brushed across the bandages on Dan’s face and the Australian’s smile fell a little. Felipinho looked down at Jev. At first he hadn’t noticed the marks on Jev’s face or the bandages on his hands. “Uncle Rob said you were dead.”

Jev gulped and nodded, pushing himself up and coming to stand beside Felipinho. When Felipinho reached out to touch the Frenchman’s face, he pulled away.

“You’re not dead though,” Felipinho said, a little confused. “Are you?”

Maybe they were ghosts. Could ghosts do that? Pick people up? And why would a ghost need to wear bandages?

“No,” Dan said, laughing a little. “No we’re not.”

“We had to tell the governor they were dead,” Felipe said, standing just outside the bedroom doorway. “He wanted to put them in prison forever and ever and wasn’t going to listen to us if we said they are not bad guys. Now they don’t have to go to prison.”

“You were just lying?” Felipinho said. That was naughty. You weren’t supposed to lie.

“Yes,” Raffaela said. “But you are not allowed to lie, ok. It is not good.”

“I promise,” Felipinho said. He turned back to Dan, grinning at how silly he looked in his bandages. “Where are you going to go now?”

The grin on Dan’s face fell a little and he looked over to Jev. Jev bit his lip. The answer was they honestly didn’t know. They couldn’t go back to where they had been living and working before, but there was nowhere else they knew.

“They are staying here,” Rob said, standing behind Felipe and making the Brazilian jump a little. Everybody turned to him and Rob grinned, proud of the confused looks he received. “We need men. We lost a lot. And, if Dan and Jev are willing to work for board and food…”

“Are you serious?” Jev asked.

“If you don’t have any other options,” Rob said. He didn’t really see the down side in it. The governor didn’t know what Dan and Jev looked like and Rob was sure he wouldn’t turn down free workers.

“You’re going to stay here?” Felipinho asked, turning back to the pirates. “Please stay here.”

Jev turned to Dan too, not sure what to expect from him. This was what he’d wanted all along. A quiet life for the two of them. But it was Dan who had wanted something new and different. And this was Dan’s choice to make.

For a couple of moments, Dan was silent, his eyes closed. Then his usual, contagious grin began to stretch his face and he nodded.

“We’re staying here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da! I finished! I hope you enjoyed it. I hope this ending wasn't too disappointing for anybody. Well, there we have it then. The end. Thanks for reading and commenting and liking and everything. It's been brilliant to read your comments throughout and you've been really motivating for me. And this wasn't supposed to turn into an Oscars' acceptance speech so I'll just leave it at that. Thank you.


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